Chapter 14

They met up with Moya a few arns later. Listrac took Crichton and Aeryn over to the leviathan on a transport. The reunion with the rest of the crew was a happy one, but none of them could really comprehend John and Aeryn's story. However, after Listrac had explained her plans to them they were all willing to help, recognising that her alliance held a hope of freedom for their peoples and the possibility that they themselves could return to their homes. It was agreed that the first priority was to see if the Luxans could be persuaded to give up their treaty with the Peacekeepers and join the alliance. Rygel had argued at first that Hyneria was more important, but even he could see that this was the best tactic. D'Argo was already starting to plan how it could be done. Whilst they were discussing how they could best use the knowledge that Grayza had been prepared to sell the Luxans down the river for a treaty with the Scarrens, Listrac pulled Aeryn to the side.

"Is there somewhere we can go to talk privately?" Aeryn withheld her surprise at the request and took her to the terrace. Listrac began to speak without preamble.

"There is something important that we need to discuss. It's something I shouldn't really tell you. It could be used against both of us, but I think it's time for you to know." She paused slightly then began again "I have watched you for a long time Aeryn Sun." Aeryn looked at her questioningly, her head held slightly to one side.

"Peacekeeper intelligence runs in my family. My mother was a highly thought of intelligence officer and very effective disrupter. She was selected to take part in a special secret breeding programme designed to produce high calibre intelligence personnel. The idea was to produce candidates for the intelligence service in secret, no records of their birth, nothing; no way of tracing them. A young officer who was with the intelligence service at the time and showing great aptitude was selected to father the child. I was the product of the experiment"

"So? What has this got to do with me?"

"The young officer selected was called Talyn Lyzcak"

"My, my father?"

"Our father. It wasn't until many cycles later that Talyn met Xhalax Sun. I was showing great promise in training and was ready to take on my first assignment. Talyn knew too much about intelligence service functioning and this breeding programme in particular. After your birth, High Command saw the perfect opportunity to rid themselves of this problem."

"By having my mother kill him"

"Precisely"

"How do you know all this?"

"There are some advantages to being head of Peacekeeper intelligence with the highest security clearance in the service!" Aeryn digested this astounding piece of information for a moment

"You're my sister! Wow, I've got a sister!"

"You know much more about this family and relationship thing than I do." They smiled rather awkwardly at each other. Aeryn felt she should show something more, remembering how John and his sister had kissed and hugged each other, but that didn't feel quite right with this woman who, not withstanding that it was a sham, had tortured John and had her shot only arns before. So, as was her way, she settled for direct questions instead.

"Does anyone else know?"

"Only Scorpius"

"Scorpius? How come him of all people?"

"He guessed when he saw us together in my quarters. Although we both resemble our respective mothers physically, we must have inherited our energy signals from our father because they are apparently remarkably similar. So much so that Scorpius knew we must be very closely related. When he challenged me with it I had little choice but to tell him and then involve him in my plan. I must say he was mightily relieved that it was all a set up. He seems extremely attached to Crichton"

"In more ways than you can guess, but I suppose they sort of understand each other now"

"Well I'm glad to have him involved; he is a useful ally if just for his connections in the Scarren hierarchy." Aeryn then moved on to something that had been bothering her since their conversation in the Swift's med bay.

"You described a role for everyone on Moya except for John and I. What do you have in mind for us?"

"I wasn't joking when I said that John needed to be taken out of the equation. I don't want him to be placed in any more situations where either the Scarrens or the Peacekeepers could obtain the wormhole knowledge. There is a planet deep in tormented space that we have established as a base. It is so far away from their respective territories that it is completely unknown to either the Scarrens or the Peacekeepers. I want you and John to go there until the war is over. I have a garrison of troops there and we are using it as a training base. I will put you in command of that garrison Lieutenant Sun"

"Thanks for the offer and the promotion, but I want to stay here where the action is, to be with you. To fight for this new alliance"

"I know you probably do, Aeryn, but the most important thing you can do for me at the moment is to keep Crichton out of trouble"

"You don't ask for much do you! Believe me, no one, not even me, can keep Crichton out of trouble"

"Well, I thought you'd like the challenge! You also seem to be forgetting that you're pregnant. I also want you to make sure that my nephew makes it into the world safely and being in the middle of a battle zone is hardly conducive to that!"

"We'd both be fine" Aeryn replied, a scowl starting to mar her features as she felt herself loosing the battle. She tried another tack "John won't want to be hidden away on some backwater planet"

"Oh I don't know. I think I'll only have to mention the healthy atmosphere ideal for a baby and the excellent medical facilities for your care"

"You wouldn't" Aeryn's scowl grew deeper, knowing that her sister had read John's over-protective tendencies very well. In this, however, they were both wrong. When Listrac put the plan to him he looked over at Aeryn and contemplated her in silence for a few moments. He could tell by the mutinous look on her face that she wasn't best pleased with the idea, even with her own garrison to command.

"Thanks, er, Gella, but I think we'll pass. We'll stay on Moya if you don't mind: She's our home. I think Aeryn would be much more comfortable here, even without the sophisticated medical care, and what makes Aeryn happy makes me happy. Besides, I think we would both like our son to be born on Moya if at all possible." Crichton eyed her wearily, wondering what her reaction would be. She seemed to be extremely used to people just doing what she said with no question. Aeryn had told him about their rather surprising relationship. It was a bit too like Dallas for him: long lost sister turns up out of the blue, but Aeryn seemed pleased to have found some family. He also wasn't sure he fancied her as a sister-in-law: She was even scarier than Aknar and she didn't need a hat! Sister-in-law or not he certainly wasn't going to let her dictate to them where they lived and what they did. His stance was amply rewarded by a smile from Aeryn and her hand clasping his.

Gella regarded them both solemnly for a moment. She was a good judge of people and she didn't like to waste time trying to change minds that she knew wouldn't change, so she accepted their decision without further debate.

"Very well, but please make sure that you keep a reasonably low profile. I don't want to have to go through the effort of rescuing you from either the Scarrens or the Peacekeepers again because quite frankly I can't spare the manpower"

"Hey, we'll keep granny aboard, then you'll know everything that we're up to anyway. And you might as well let Scorpy come with us too. He's usually pretty good at protecting my hide"

"Alright. I'm trusting you to look after Aeryn and my nephew as well Crichton"

"Huh, the day he can look after…"

"Now don't start that again, honey"

"Don't you honey me, John Crichton"

"But it's a term of endearment, sweetie, it means I care about you"

"If you cared about me you wouldn't refer to me as some sort of sugary substance……"

Gella smiled at the bickering pair and thought how this love was a very strange thing. She backed away and left them to it. The next time she saw them was to say goodbye. They came into the maintenance bay to see her transport off. They were holding hands and smiling whereas only half an arn before they had been at loggerheads. Yes, this love was definitely a very strange thing.

All the crew watched as the transport sped away from Moya and then the beautiful silvery-white ship shot away without a trace. Pilot prepared for starburst. They were headed for tormented space again to find a suitable wormhole to take them to the Luxan territories.

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends" muttered John as Moya launched into starburst.

THE END

Author's note: I was tempted to put "To be continued" in true Farscape style as there are plenty of threads to pick up and take forward (I estimate that we're at about ep3 of Season 5), but I'm not sure I have the energy at the moment (besides, the house and garden are a tip – I need to spend some time clearing them up instead of writing when I'm not at work), but you never know I could very well get my muse back sometime. Many thanks for all the feedback and encouragement – hope you enjoyed it and liked the little twists towards the end.