Chapter 13

The guard looked in at Crichton. He lay on the bed staring blankly at the ceiling in exactly the same position he had been in three arns ago when he had last checked on him. After the Peacekeeper defector Sun had been shot the guard had watched as Crichton had curled up in a foetal ball on the floor and rocked himself back and forward silently, tears running down his face. After a while he had started muttering to himself but had eventually fallen silent. He now lay unmoving and virtually catatonic on the bed. He was going to be difficult to move, but move him they must because the Commissioner had requested that he be brought to her quarters, no doubt for more interrogation.

The muttering had been as a result of a visit from Harvey. This had taken place in a padded cell, and John and Harvey were both wearing straight jackets. John was struggling to get out of his.

"You have to snap out of it, John. This behaviour won't bring her back and it won't save you from Listrac"

"Frell off, you bastard. Where were you when I needed you? What about all that "I just want to keep you safe John" crap, huh? Well keeping me safe means keeping Aeryn safe too and you failed dismally there"

"I'm only in your head, John. I can't affect real events as they happen"

"Like hell you can't! Your alter ego, doppelganger, whatever he is, certainly can and he didn't raise a finger"

"You haven't considered the possibility that he was unable to"

"I wouldn't have given up so easily" he continued in his struggle to get out of the jacket

"May be his patience with you has finally run out, John. You continuously disappoint him by refusing to give wormholes to the Peacekeepers"

"I blew up his plants for him. What more does he want?"

"You know the answer to that question"

John moved over to a wall and did a move on his shoulder à la Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon. Grimacing in pain he shook off the straight jacket

"If you're not gonna be helpful, Harv, go away. I don't feel much like talking at the moment," he said through gritted teeth

"If you say so John" Harvey wriggled for a couple of moments then easily removed the jacket with a grin. John just glared at him

The guard came back with a reinforcement. Together they managed to lift Crichton off the bed. He refused to help in any way so they just dragged him along by his arms. They dumped him in the Commissioners quarters.

Crichton lay for a few moments orienting himself to his new surroundings. By now he didn't really care what they did to him: the sooner his pain ended the better. Suddenly, however, the sound of someone speaking drew his attention

"Good fortune, Captain. The Peacekeepers are depending on you"

He instantly recognised that hated voice and he seemed to come alive. Jumping up he lunged at the Commissioner, both hands aiming for her throat. She easily pushed him off.

"I can't decide whether you're pathetic or heroic, Crichton" He refused to answer "I could just put you in the chair right now. You're so weak your resistance would be too low to withstand it" Still no rise from him

Suddenly the ship lurched violently throwing them both to the floor. It was this that finally pushed Crichton into speaking

"What the frell was that?" he croaked, picking himself up gingerly

"I believe it was this ship exploding" replied the Commissioner, dusting herself off

"Now you've lost me lady"

"This ship is capable of a rapid travel manoeuvre similar to starburst. We have just gone into that manoeuvre. However, my people have been able to develop a technique that simulates total destruction at the same time. It's a bit more violent than the normal one, as we have just experienced, but leaves an impression that a catastrophic explosion has taken place. As far as Captain Braca and the command carrier are concerned this ship was just destroyed, killing everybody on board. You, me, everyone. There will even be debris evidence to convince high command."

"Is this some sort of weird torture technique? 'Cos if it is I think you should know that I don't get it"

"Yes, it probably needs more explanation. Come with me." Despite himself he was intrigued and followed her as she led him down various corridors into what was obviously the ship's medical area. They went through the back of the area into a separate room. As she stepped aside he saw that it contained Aeryn's body.

"No, no I can't take this." He stared at her too pale face with a desperate longing

"Go on Crichton, go to her." He wanted to resist, knowing Listrac could probably use his vulnerability at this moment, but he moved towards her anyway, unable to stop himself. At least this was a chance to say a proper goodbye. He put out an unsteady hand to caress her cheek. It took a few microts before he realised that it wasn't cold as he had expected but warm. He turned to Listrac, a look of incomprehension on his face. She was smiling at him. Looking around he realised that there were banks of monitors blinking away in the background, monitoring Aeryn's condition.

"How? Why?" he managed to get out

"I needed her dead. In fact I needed it to appear that you were all dead. I wanted High Command to believe that I had tortured you for your knowledge and used her as a tool in that torture as they would have expected me to. I needed the execution to look as authentic as possible, but she was only shot with a kill shot that temporarily stopped her heart function and put her into a coma. My report, accompanied by full surveillance recordings, is on its way to High Command as we speak. It will be followed by Braca's report of my death in the ship's explosion. I will be given a heroic send off and you, Aeryn and your friends will be struck off the wanted list as "deceased". She should come round in an arn or so. You might as well stay," she said casually, smiling at his utter confusion. He watched in amazement as she made to leave

"I don't pretend to understand any of this"

"No I don't suppose you do. I shall come back when Aeryn is recovered and give you both some explanation. You probably deserve it"

Crichton sat watching Aeryn. The machine monitoring her heart bleeped in a reassuringly rhythmic fashion. He held her hand, his thumb stroking the back of it in time with that rhythm. He was equally comforted by the sound from the machine monitoring the baby's heartbeat, as rhythmic as his mother's, but going about twice as fast. As he watched her eyelids started to flicker

"Hey, babe"

"Hmmmm"

"Aeryn, honey you need to try and wake up"

"sis real?..Not….dead?"

"No you're not dead babe, and this is very real, if extremely weird"

"Didn't…give…worm…..les"

"No I didn't give them wormholes, sweetheart. I didn't give them anything. You sleep for a while longer and I'll explain everything later" she nodded slowly and drifted off again.

About an arn or so later Aeryn came round more fully. As she stirred John leaned forward and kissed her

"How ya doin' sweetheart?"

"I feel like dren. What the frell happened to me?"

"You died again, only not for real this time," he said, taking her gently in his arms. "That head honcho Peacekeeper woman is one scary lady. I'm not really sure what's going on but she seems to have some sort of plan"

"Well it had better be a frelling good one. I feel like I've been on the end of a bout of D'Argo's hyper rage"

The Commissioner appeared back as John was helping Aeryn get somewhat unsteadily to her feet. She motioned them to sit back down "before you both fall down." She pursed her lips as if in thought and they looked at her a little warily but with a certain amount of expectation rather than fear.

"I suppose it is time that I gave you a full explanation of what is going on and the reason I put you both through the performance of the last few arns." She turned to Aeryn. "Officer Sun, when you were with the ex-Peacekeeper assassination squad were you told anything about where orders came from?"

"Just that there was a source within high command friendly to our cause." Listrac looked at her and held her gaze until the penny dropped. "It was you?"

"Probably not me per se, but one of my people. We were using that squad and others like it to carry out assassinations of some of the more fanatical supporters of the Peacekeepers and Scarrens who had a penchant for violence and tyranny." She paused again briefly to let them digest this piece of information "Like you, Aeryn, I was born and raised in the Peacekeeper service. I have been in the somewhat shady world of Peacekeeper intelligence since birth. I was the youngest ever disrupter in active service. Generally a model of the Peacekeeper ideal"

"You were a disrupter?" asked Crichton "Do you have, you know, the stilettos in your wrist and everything?" She laughed at his question

"I used to. I had them removed when I stopped working in the field" she showed him the scars on her wrists. "They were actually extremely uncomfortable but they came in handy on any number of occasions. Anyway, as I was saying, I rose through the ranks quickly, never questioning the Peacekeeper ideals or doctrine, but for the last few cycles it has been apparent to me that those ideals and values have changed. They are no longer what they were and I started to question whether I wanted to continue to serve such an oppressive and intolerant organisation. I am in a position to see its very heart and it is black to the core. Fortunately my position also gives me a great deal of influence and a certain amount of covertness is expected in my activities. I have been gathering together a number of like-minded groups to form an alternative alliance to the current Peacekeeper establishment. My operatives have been able to negotiate the support of a number of both Peacekeeper and Scarren allies who were disillusioned with the yoke of these powers around their necks. I am now in a position to put my plan into action. The Peacekeepers and the Scarrens are at their most vulnerable, concentrating on each other. I have this ship. You and your friends were another important part of the equation"

"So the others are still alive?"

"Yes, they are on Moya and will meet up with us shortly. Again, I wanted high command to believe I had behaved like the ruthless killer they thought they had made me and executed them"

"Wow, this is mind blowing. You're telling us that the PK second in command has set up a rebel organisation to destroy the Peacekeepers and the Scarrens?"

"Not destroy them: I believe that they can do that quite effectively to each other without any need for intervention on my part. However, I do want to be in a position to encourage and accelerate the military destruction and offer an alternative way forward, with the aim of getting back to the original principles of the Peacekeepers; helping to keep the Peace but allowing individual peoples to control their own government, not oppressing them to a dictators rule"

"Why are we so important in this grand scheme?"

"There's an obvious answer to that"

"Wormholes. I won't let you have them as a weapon anymore that I would the other guys"

"I know and that's part of the plan. We have to take you out of the equation. I don't want anyone to get wormhole weapons because it would be a huge advantage. I had hoped that the Quajagans might have been able to keep you safe but I obviously under-estimated your ingenuity and ability to escape"

"Dickhead's with you? I thought they hated all Peacekeepers?"

"They do. I was able to make a deal with them by offering them hope for the future. In return they agreed to hold you and Aeryn for me"

"This is overwhelming." He slipped into silence, digesting what he had heard. Aeryn, who had been quiet up until now spoke up

"What can we do to help?

John looked at her sharply. It was unusual for her to immediately trust someone, especially someone who not so many arns ago had tortured them then had her shot, but she seemed to have decided that Listrac was someone they could work with. The Commissioner just smiled at Aeryn's offer and accepted it.

"It is still vital that John's knowledge is kept safe so I will need your co-operation on that front. My immediate plan is to lay low for a while; I don't want to any of us to re-appear too soon because that would loose any advantage our imagined deaths could bring. I think I have done enough to start the war; that power-mad imbecile Aknar should see to that" Crichton smirked at this dismissive description of his Scarren nemesis. "I want to see how things develop on that front. However, I do have need of help from your friends. The Hynerians and Luxans would be powerful allies if we can get them to join our alliance. I wouldn't want to tackle the Nebari just yet, but the involvement of their resistance would be useful. So you can see that I have a role for everyone on Moya"

"You are very well informed about us"

"That's what I do, Crichton. Besides I had a very good source"

"Scorpius?"

"No, someone quite different." They looked at her questioningly. "Did you never wonder where the old woman came from?"

"Granny's with you?" John asked incredulously

"I must say that she is a somewhat unconventional spy, but very reliable. I almost gave up hope when I received her report that you were on your way to Katratzi"

"She was communicating with you all along? Wait till I get my hands on her. And Pilot must have been co-operating and sending messages for her"

"Oh no, your Pilot is completely unaware. She is able to communicate thoughts over long distances using her third eye." Crichton just stared at her unbelievingly

"I can't believe Granny's a spy. I mean she gave me drugs for christsakes!"

"Yes, well I did say she was unconventional" She stood up and made to leave. "Well I must go. Revolutions don't run themselves you know!" She briefly clasped both their hands "I'm sorry about what I had to put you through back there. I hope you understand the reasons. If I had known quite how badly it would affect you, Crichton I would have come up with a different way. I can only say in my defence that I had yet to appreciate what true love means in the way Aeryn has come to understand it, but the pair of you certainly gave me a good lesson in that cell"

"Hey, it's all forgotten now that I've got her back in one piece, and we know you're not a baddie!"

They both watched in amazed awe as she purposefully left the room.