Aeryn Sun opened her eyes slowly. She had been returning to consciousness for some time, but like a good soldier had remained seemingly asleep while she assessed the noises around her without alerting her captors. She judged that there were about three people in the room. They hardly talked but she could hear the whirr of equipment and their feet as they moved. She was lying on some sort of bed to which her feet and hands were strapped. As her eyes adjusted to the light she observed the other occupants of the room. They were of a species unknown to her, but all in all she considered that to be a plus; her main fear was that they had been re-captured by the Scarrens. Suddenly, one of the consoles started beeping as it picked up on her eye movement and increased brain activity. Two of the aliens who were obviously guards stood to attention, their weapons trained on her. The tech alien came over to her.
"Name, rank and regiment, Peacekeeper," he almost spat with loathing
"My name is Aeryn Sun, but I'm not a Peacekeeper"
"I find that hard to believe; your genetics and physiology would say otherwise"
"I used to be one but I left four cycles ago"
"Left? Peacekeepers don't just leave"
"They do if they're deemed irreversibly contaminated"
"Then they're executed. They don't leave"
"Well I escaped."
Another alien had entered the room during this conversation. He was obviously of higher rank as the tech immediately deferred to him. Aeryn tried to withhold her surprise when his face opened up. He continued the interrogation
"Did you escape with the other one, the non-sebacean you were with?"
"Yes, with John Crichton. We have no more love for the Peacekeepers than you obviously do. They have been attempting to re-capture and eliminate us for the last four cycles." She took a deep breath and asked him the question that was uppermost in her mind. "Look, what did you do to us when you took us from the boat? I'm pregnant and I want to know if my baby is alright"
"The child continues to grow well. You should be thankful for him. We usually terminate Peacekeepers immediately, but we have never encountered one pregnant with a child that is not fully sebacean"
"No, I don't suppose you have," she retorted then stopped to think about what he had said for a microt. "Did you say him?"
"Yes, we believe that it is a male child. Did you not know?"
"No. Somehow I'd always imagined it was a girl," she said absently, looking down at her finger and realising her ring was missing.
"You mentioned John. Where is he?"
"The child belongs to him" It was a statement rather than a question. " I want to understand why you are with him"
"Why?"
"So that we can decide whether or not you need to be terminated"
Aeryn was dozing. Once she knew the baby and John were safe she was content to spend some time recouping her energies and surreptitiously observing their captors to work out any means of escape. There was a whoosh of the door as the senior alien returned. He motioned to the tech to release the restraints on Aeryn's arms and legs and then beckoned her up. She got gingerly to her feet as the blood returned to her limbs. As he left she padded after him, a guard on either side. They reached another door and as it slid open the alien beckoned her through and then the panel slid shut behind her. John was lying on the bed with his back to her.
"Why don't you just go away and leave me alone dickhead"
"That's not a very nice thing to say to the woman who just agreed to marry you!" He had turned and staggered from the bed in an instant. She was enveloped in a tight embrace.
"Oh baby, thank God your alive. I thought they'd killed you" John, emotional man that he was, cried unashamedly
"John, careful, you're going to do the job quite nicely yourself if you don't let me go"
"Sorry, babe. I didn't mean to hurt you, its just I'm so relieved"
"I know, but I'm a little more fragile than usual at the moment, remember"
"Yeah, I almost forgot about the precious cargo you're carrying. I take it the baby's OK?"
"He's fine"
"He's fine! Did you say he?"
"According to our new, er, friends, we're going to have a son. Does that please you?"
"Sweetheart, I wouldn't care if the baby was blue with yellow spots as long as you're both safe and healthy"
"I should think you would care if he was blue, John, because that would mean he definitely wasn't yours"
They fell laughing and kissing on to the bed. The pent up emotion of the last arns spilled over into passion. Neither cared that the aliens were probably watching. Clothes were soon gone as they clamoured to explore each other's body again. John couldn't remember a time when making love to Aeryn had seemed so sweet, not even that first time after their post-Talikka reunion when they had made love on the floor of the transport pod in an attempt to hide from Scorpy. May be it was the commitment they had made to each other in that boat, may be it was that they were in yet another situation where either or both of them could soon die, but they made love with no barriers between them and with a tenderness that spoke of many years to come. Afterwards they lay sated in each other's arms, limbs still entwined.
"Wow, that's one for a late night drinking session with D'Argo. Most unusual place you've ever had sex; in a prison cell with a bunch of aliens looking on. Beats my last entry of on top of Sally Thomson's washer during a spin cycle by miles." She gave him a playful slap
"If you talk about our love life with D'Argo I'll shoot your mivonks off"
"Yeah, like you wouldn't discuss it with Chiana." She gave him a look. "May be you're right. I'd hate to think what Chiana's entry to that particular competition might be." They lay quietly for a few minutes thinking of their friends back on Moya and wondering what they were doing, if they even knew they were still alive.
"John, I'm sorry, but I've lost the ring you gave me"
"Don't worry about it babe. I don't care as long as you're safe."
"But it was your mother's"
"I know, but the important thing was that you said yes and I got to put it on your finger. We'll find it again or I'll get you another one"
"We have to get out of here first"
"Yeah, we need to start working on a plan but my mind's not really on the job," he said as he nuzzled her neck.
"Pay attention, John. What do you make of these aliens? I've never come across the species"
"That's probably because no Peacekeepers have survived to tell the tale"
"I know and yet I don't sense any real threat from them. It's as if they just want to study us"
"Much as being a zoo exhibit is better than pushing up daisies, I'm not real fond of the idea on a permanent basis"
"If I knew what you were talking about, John, it would help"
"I want to escape and get back to Moya as soon as possible"
"I do too. Why didn't you just say that?"
"Cos you look gorgeous when you're confused" she was going to protest that his mind was wandering again but was distracted by his equally wandering hands.