Chapter Twenty-Eight: Sorrow and the Living Legend
The next morning was another quiet day for the Colonials and their new allies. Moya was still leading the ragtag fleet of ships on course for Earth, and the Colonial warriors and crewmembers onboard were slowly adjusting to life on the Leviathan.
Pilot was very happy with the extra hands onboard to help maintain Moya's systems. The Humans were quickly learning to operate and even repair the Leviathan's biomechanical components. This gave Pilot more free time to do other important things, like constantly scan ahead for signs of any alien ships or for the returning Galactica and Talyn. So far, nothing appeared on sensors or was detected by any of the Viper patrols yet.
***
Up in the command chamber, everyone was keeping busy to help pass the time. Off duty now, Boomer and Jolly were having a friendly game of cards, but to their dismay, they may have found someone else who might be better at playing pyramids than Starbuck.
"Interesting game," Rygel said to the two Colonials from behind an ever-growing pile of cubits he was winning. "I ought to play this more often."
Amused, Jool glanced over to the strategy table where the three men were playing. The Hynerian was taking the two Colonials to the cleaners.
"Just as long as money is involved, isn't that right, Rygel?" She said.
"Then why play a game if there is nothing to be gained?" Rygel said with a hearty laugh. "There is nothing like the thrill of overcoming impossible odds or the satisfaction of beating your opponent in a fair match but, more importantly, winning riches at the end to highlight your triumph!"
Boomer just shook his head. "Okay, that is it! We need to get him and Starbuck into a game to see who's the best gambler."
"Or at least the better bragger," Jolly added.
"Excellent! That means more cubits for me to win!" The Hynerian Dominar exclaimed blissfully as he pawed over his pile of gold coins.
Jolly could only chuckle at the sight of the green little alien and his greedy love for money. He looked over to Jool and asked, "Is he always like this?"
"The only thing that Rygel loves more than besides himself and food is money," Jool replied with a faint hint of disgust.
Their conversation was quickly interrupted when Chiana suddenly rushed into the command chamber, gasping for breath as if someone or something was chasing her. Boomer and Jolly actually started to rise from the table to see what was the matter.
Still panting for breath she held her finger to her lips, hushing them to be silent. Quickly, she placed herself next to the door with her back firmly pressed against the wall, as if to ambush the next person to walk through it.
Curious, everyone watched when Daniel suddenly raced in. Winded, he immediately spotted Jool and the others and began to open his mouth apparently to ask a question, but Rygel beat him to the punch.
"Looking for a certain Nebari with ash colored skin? Try behind you."
But the warning came just a little too late. By the time Daniel started to turn, Chiana was already jumping to pounce on him. Her slender legs and arms encircled about his waist and torso, locking down on his body.
"Got you!" Chiana shouted gleefully.
Surprised, Daniel staggered while grinning from ear to ear, hopelessly laughing. He wrapped his arms about her slight frame, holding her closely. Their faces were inches apart.
"Okay, okay! You got me!" Daniel said, surrendering to her. "But in the game of tag, you're supposed to keep running until I catch you."
"Well… I got tired of running and I decided to catch you." She squeezed her limbs about his body a bit more to make the point. "So, I got you! Tag! You're it… again!"
Smiling, Daniel slowly spun her about, holding her tightly.
"You like breaking the rules?"
Throwing her head back, Chiana laughed. "Only when I can get away with it!"
When Chiana started to lean forward again, she stared into Daniel's eyes as he gazed back. The two smiled affectionately at one another for a few heartbeats before Daniel whispered, "I don't doubt it, you little stealer of hearts."
"I have stolen your heart?" Chiana smirked, leaning her head down further until her forehead touched Daniel's.
Daniel gently kissed her. "Totally and completely, my Wild Flower."
"Then I promise to take good care of it." Chiana then returned the kiss.
"Would you two like to have a room?" Jool suddenly spoke to the two lovebirds.
Both Daniel and Chiana abruptly remembered that they weren't alone in the command chamber. Unlocking her legs about Daniel's waist, Chiana slid down off his body, planting both feet back onto the deck.
"Ah… Sorry," Daniel commented, sheepishly trying not to blush.
"Well, I'm not!" Chiana said in mischievous defiance, keeping her arms wrapped about his chest.
Rygel stared smugly as the Human and Nebari both walked over to join the rest of them at the strategy table. "So, did you two get much sleep last night?"
"I slept soundly," Chiana replied, quietly giving a slight glare at the taunting Hynerian.
But Rygel ignored her and looked over to Daniel. "And how did you sleep?"
"Ah… Like a log, I mean, just fine." Being a linguist, Daniel tried his best to stop using Earth metaphors around the aliens and the Colonials. He knew how confusing it could be for his listeners.
Rygel gave a deep throaty chuckle. "By the amount of noise you two made last night, I doubt it! By the way Daniel, what does Whoo-hoo! stand for?"
Embarrassed, Daniel's face reddened like a ripe tomato just before a fuming Chiana gave the laughing Hynerian a quick smack to the back of his head.
"Rygel! So help me, I'll…"
"Attention everyone!" Pilot's holographic imagine suddenly appeared within the clamshell, reporting excitedly, "Moya has detected the Galactica and Talyn on long range scans. They are returning!"
Everyone immediately stood up from the table and hurried to gather about the clamshell.
"Are they alright, Pilot?" Boomer asked quickly. "Any signs of damage or pursuit?"
Pilot checked carefully and shook his head. "Both Talyn and the Galactica appear to be mostly undamaged and I'm reading a transmission… It's from Talyn. He's reporting that he's well and their mission was a success! However…"
Jool watched as Pilot's face drew up into a painful frown. After a moment, Pilot looked as if he was ready to cry. "Pilot? What's wrong?"
"There were… some casualties…"
***
D'Argo studied him through the transparent door to his cell in the Galactica's brig. Of the thirty cell rooms in this security facility, John Crichton was the only one being held here at the moment for observation.
The Luxan looked at the Human security guard beside him and nodded. The guard then keyed in the security code to the nearby panel, which opened the cell door, letting D'Argo step through.
Once inside, the door closed behind him. In the corner of the spartan cell, John Crichton sat staring blankly ahead on the floor against the far wall. He looked completely absorbed in his own little world, which unfortunately appeared to occur more frequently as time went on.
"John?" D'Argo said softly, trying to get his friend's attention. "John?"
"I hear you, D'Argo," came a whispered reply. Crichton continued to stare straight ahead. "Can you tell me how long they are planning to keep me here?"
"They are worried about you." D'Argo moved and sat down on the floor next to him. He glanced up at the camera located in the center of the ceiling before turning back to Crichton. "And so am I. They want to keep you under observation to be sure that you don't do anything to harm yourself, and I have to agree. Tell me John, do you want to harm yourself?"
"I don't know, D'Argo…" Crichton said in exhaustion, "…I'm too numb to move from this spot. I'm even afraid to close my eyes because of what I might see in my dreams. I'm not trying to think of her, D'Argo… It helps with the pain when I don't."
D'Argo sighed at the sound of Crichton's current mental condition. "Is Harvey behaving?"
"He's been very quiet," Crichton chuckled darkly. "The bastard knows that if he pushes the wrong buttons, I just might do myself in and take him down with me… Damn! I didn't mean for it to come out that way, D'Argo."
The Luxan nodded. "You must know that Cassiopeia and the other doctors are going to keep a close eye on you, even after you are released."
"Joy to world," Crichton muttered to himself. "Finally getting the care that I need… Do Colonials even have health insurance?"
"John, never before in my life have I seen anyone take more punishment or more dren than you. You are strong and you will get through this. Everyone here wants to help you."
"How's Sheba?"
D'Argo frowned sadly. "She's still blaming herself, John."
"Is she going to be okay?"
"She will be eventually, if given time."
Crichton nodded his head thankfully. "Good. I don't want to see her constantly punishing herself. There's enough misery going around as it stands already."
"There's going to be a memorial service in seven arns. Do you wish to attend?"
For the first time, Crichton turned his head to stare right into the eyes of his Luxan friend. "I'm not sure if I can do this again, D'Argo. I buried her once, and to do it all over again…"
"You don't have to decide now, you have time to think it over."
Pausing for a moment, Crichton shook his head, wiping away a growing tear from his eyes. "No, I owe it to her and the others who gave their lives for us. I have to go. Who will be handling the services?"
"Commander Adama."
Smiling, Crichton nodded his head in approval. "He'll do a good job, and he's quite a spiritual man. He has a calming presence like Zhann had."
D'Argo couldn't agree more. "I noticed that too. He inspires confidence in his people by simply walking into a room. That's a rarity for any leader. I wished that I had more time to get to know him better. I could learn much from him."
"When you are leaving for home?"
"Not until I am sure that you will be alright and not one microt sooner."
"How about Rygel?"
"He can't wait to get home and reclaim his throne," D'Argo snorted. "He has been talking to Adama to try and convince him to lend some men or weapons to help overthrow his cousin."
Crichton laughed. "What did Adama say?"
"Rygel was very persistent, and like it or not, the Colonials do need allies so he reluctantly agreed."
"Son of a bitch," Crichton couldn't believe it. "What did Adama gave him?"
"I don't know but I understand it was a couple of things that wouldn't be missed," D'Argo said. "Adama even gave me a message to deliver to my leaders when I return, wishing to open relations."
"Well, you can't have too many friends out here, especially there are more bad guys out here than you can point a pulse rifle at."
The two friends grew quiet for several long moments before Crichton broke the uncomfortable silence. "You know, I never really did find out if Aeryn truly believed in an afterlife. Even after she died the first time, she couldn't remember anything except when Zhann brought her back."
"She's in a better place, John," D'Argo said reassuringly. "Take some comfort in that."
Fresh tears welled in Crichton eyes, as he nodded briskly. "Ya… I just hope that someone is watching over her, wherever she is."
After another moment, Crichton sighed. "You know D'Argo, the one thing that I always wanted was a chance to go home. To have something close to resembling a normal life again and not have the need to keep looking over my shoulder… Or sleeping with one eye open and a pulse pistol under my pillow."
D'Argo listened and heard the uncertainly in his voice. "But what?"
"But don't think I will be able to stand the quiet."
***
The last thing she remembered was the blinding blast wave devouring her tiny fighter with a deafening roar, threatening to shake and tear it apart any microt. With little choice left, she closed her eyes and waited for the merciful end.
Then everything went silent and calm.
Hesitatingly, Aeryn opened her eyes to find that she wasn't in her Viper cockpit any longer. She was now resting on her back on a table in the center of a bright white room. Where was she? The room looked alien in design, everything was white, glowing and sparking with energy.
Sitting up to remove her flight helmet, it was after she removed it that she noticed its color had become pure white like the room. Aeryn looked down at herself and saw her entire Colonial uniform, right down to her boots, were completely white as well. Then a frightful thought occurred to her.
"Am I… dead?" she uttered aloud to herself.
From behind her came a calm and soothing voice. "No Aeryn, far from it."
The voice sounded eerily familiar. Aeryn spun about and saw…
"Zhann!"
It was the Delvan priestess, dressed in a long white robe. She bowed her head in acknowledgement. "Yes, Aeryn. It is I."
Mystified, Aeryn rose from the table and moved towards her, constantly glancing at her surroundings. "Zhann? How… What happened to us?"
"I don't have time to explain it all but fear not, you are still quite alive. As for me, I have changed, I have ascended, shedding my physical form and became a spiritual being. We are known to many in the universe, anywhere from angels, prophets or simply mysterious ships of light."
"We?"
"There are others like me who have ascended as well. Some of them are very ancient and very wise," Zhann explained. "We seek to keep a balance in the universe."
"Uh, huh…" Aeryn was still confused and had a thousand questions that needed answers but didn't know exactly where to start. "Where are we?"
"We're on a ship and although we have no need of one in our new form, some of the passengers we bring on board from time to time such as yourself do require a breathable atmosphere."
This was still too confusing for the ex-Peacekeeper. She started blurting out questions all at once. "Why am I here, Zhann? How did you save me? Are you okay?"
"I have never been more at peace as I am now. So do not concern yourself about me, Aeryn. As for saving you, it was easy but as for why you are here, that's more complicated," Zhann said. "There is shadow looming that threatens this galaxy. An error occurred long ago that shouldn't have been permitted to come to past. Now we need someone to set it right and undo our failure. If nothing is done, all sentient life everywhere will be extinct or enslaved in the next one thousand cycles."
"What was this error?"
"We sat by and allowed evil to fester and spread for too long." Zhann smiled ruefully. "Even the most wise can suffer a lapse in judgment occasionally."
"What is this danger and what can we do to stop it?"
"Not we Aeryn, you. You must do this and to help restore the balance."
"I don't understand. If you have the power to pull me from an exploding ship, then why not do it yourself?"
"We have laws that must be obeyed to keep beings such as myself from playing god, Aeryn, but we are now trying to set things right by bending a few of them."
"And you expect me to save the galaxy?"
Zhann smiled. "Even a single snow flake can determine which way an avalanche will fall."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence. What do I need to do?"
"Wake up, Aeryn."
"Huh?"
"Wake up."
Aeryn found herself suddenly overcome by waves of exhaustion. She tried to reach for Zhann as the ex-Peacekeeper collapsed to the floor.
"Goodbye Aeryn, I love you, I love you all."
Aeryn whispered to her, almost crying, not wanting to leave. "Zhann, no… Please, not yet…"
She fell asleep… Then, Aeryn abruptly awoke to the sound of her Viper's canopy being forced open. Dazed, she looked up to see her fighter surrounded by human rescue crews. Aeryn was back on the Battlestar. She was alive! Was she merely dreaming about Zhann?
She felt tired and could barely move but several crews reached in and carefully pulled her free from her fighter cockpit. Aeryn grabbed an arm of one crewmember asking, "Sheba? Did she make it also?"
But he looked at her strangely as they placed her on a nearby stretcher. At first Aeryn was grateful to be safe but that thought immediately disappeared when they started to strap her arms and legs down.
"What are you doing!?" She shouted.
Aeryn started to struggle against them before two armed guards moved into view with blasters drawn.
"What the frell is going on?" Aeryn cried, she was still too weak to put up much of a fight. "I'm not your enemy! Where's Sheba! Where's Apollo!"
"Stop!" Came a strong male voice.
Slowly, a man moved through the crowd towards her. Aeryn's mouth dropped open, unable to believe what was happening to her. First her apparent encounter with Zhann and now…
"Commander Cain?"
Aeryn remembered that photo Sheba showed her almost a year ago and it was truly him in the flesh, only slightly older and a few more gray hairs. That means she was on the Pegasus!
He knelt down beside her stretcher and nodded. "That's right," He studied her face, whistling aloud. "Well, you sure do look Human alright but our lifeform sensors are telling us quite a different story. I want to ask you a few questions and I would appreciate an honest answer to each of them. First, how did you come to acquire a Viper and one of our uniforms? Second, what do you know of my daughter, Captain Apollo and me? And third, did you have anything to do with those flying ships of light that buzzed the Pegasus just before you appeared out of nowhere?"
Aeryn became nervous; did Commander Cain think she was a spy? Of course he does! Aeryn mentally kicked herself, why wouldn't he? But what will he do to her if she can't convince him otherwise? Toss her in the brig and throw away the key? She had to be careful in how she approached this.
"I can tell you but you may not believe me," Aeryn said honestly.
The older man smiled, watching her closely. "Try me but make it quick because we're running out of time."
"Running out of time?" Aeryn said. "Why? What's happening?"
Cain stared at her suspiciously but finally admitted, "I'm a very good judge of character, even when it comes to aliens. So I am going to follow my instincts and say that I trust you. Right now, we are shadowing a Cylon armada, numbering nearly fifty basestars and all heading to stake out more territory for their Alliance. In fact they have been waging war against a race called the Scarrans for sometime now and these Scarrans, from all appearances, are losing. We have been harassing Cylon supply lines as best as we can but it has been next to impossible considering we don't have any fighters. Regardless I intend to stop that fleet of reinforcements before they reach Scarran space. I'm sorry to say that you have really picked the wrong ship to be on."
Aeryn's jaw dropped. Was this the reason why Zhann sent her here? Just to save the Scarrans from the Cylons?
"Frell, me!" Aeryn muttered to herself.
This was a bad twisted joke!
Author's Note: I like to take this moment to thank my readers who patiently followed my story as I wrote it sometimes hap hazardously. All the feedback you leave behind is always deeply appreciated and it helped me through some of hopeless nights against the dreaded bouts of writer's block while sitting in front of the computer. I couldn't have finished it without your support. Also I like to thank all of my Beta Readers: Kzinti_Killer, Flatlander and Moon Fox who also made this fanfic possible. I couldn't have done this without them.
Now, there is at least one more chapter coming after this one, then Part Two of this story will be finished. Afterwards I will take a much-needed break before starting Part Three.
