"Changer" Time: Sometime during Season Three, after Self-Inflicted Wounds II: Wait For The Wheel, before Eat Me.

Disclaimer: I didn't create Farscape, didn't create the characters and don't make a plug nickel off of it.

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Part Three: State Of Change

There was an argument going on behind him, yet he was almost unaware of it. All he could see was Aeryn's still form.

"I don't understand," Sunistas said quietly. "I was sure the Sebacean was the changer."

"Aeryn," John whispered. "Her name is.was.Aeryn."

D'Argo grabbed the Shralasen's shoulder and spun him around. "Did it ever occur to you that you might be wrong?"

Sunistas looked from D'Argo to John and nodded slowly. "There have been a few instances when similar errors have been made."

"And that doesn't bother you at all, does it?" Chiana's voice was an angry hiss.

"My mandate is to protect the Shralasen people. If innocents have to be sacrificed, then so be it."

"The good of the many outweigh the needs of the few." John pulled his eyes away from Aeryn and turned to Sunistas. "Just find you god damn ball of goo and get the hell outta here."

Sunistas considered John for a microt then nodded. "Yes. We will begin on tier thirteen and work out from there. In order to maintain security, I want all of you with us."

John took a deep breath and nodded. "Give me a microt to take Aeryn back to her room."

Sunistas began to protest, but stopped. "Furnel will accompany you. Rendezvous with you as soon as possible."

John watched D'Argo and the others leave Command and tried to ignore the sadness on their faces. He couldn't let himself think about what they were feeling. If he did, he knew he would lose control of himself, and he was afraid of what that would lead to.

He glanced at Furnel and wondered for a microt how the Shralasen knew one person from another. "Is Sunshine always that quick on the trigger?"

Furnel's head tilted to one side. "What do you mean?"

"Instead of finding out if Aeryn really was Aeryn or if she was Dari, he just opened fire."

"The Sebacean fired first."

"After she was accused of being an imposter, then thrown across the room. Don't know about you, but that'd make me edgy." John looked back at Furnel. He sighed when he saw the questioning look on the Shralasen's face. "Never mind. Let's just get Aeryn down to her room."

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She watched and waited, biding her time until she was clear. It wouldn't be long before she would act.

Moving quickly, she reached Pilot's den in microts. Rather than enter through the door, she used the access shaft.

Pilot looked up from his console as she dropped to the deck. His eyes went wide when she stepped into the light.

"You! I should."

"You should do nothing, Pilot. Trust me. I need you to do something."

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D'Argo leaned around a corner then proceeded down the corridor. The warm colors of Moya's walls were unchanged, but they felt different to him, almost as if there was a physical reaction to Aeryn's death.

"We've been searching this tier for three arns," he said quietly. "I'm beginning to think she's not here anymore." He glanced back at John, who followed close behind.

"Are you all right, John?" D'Argo had been concerned about John's state of mind since they started searching. His face was blank, his motions almost mechanical. When he spoke, it was in a dull monotone.

"Fine, D'Argo," John answered. "Everything's wonderful now. Just another day in paradise." He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and shook his head. "Let's get this over with."

"The last place the changer was seen was on tier thirteen," Sunistas grumbled, his arrogant tone more evident over the comm. "If this tier is sealed, then she shouldn't be able to move to another tier."

"That would be the logical assumption," John said. "With our luck, though."

"It would be unfortunate if the changer has slipped away! We might have to carry out sentencing if."

"Threatening us won't make us find her any faster," Rygel said. "Why don't you use those scanners of yours to locate her?"

"Our sensors do not function in the neurocluster, Hynerian," one of the deputies said. "The sensors are being used to search the rest of the tier."

"Of course they don't," John whispered. "Why should they? Hey, D, I've been thinking. Since Dari wasn't impersonating Aeryn, she could still be impersonating someone else."

"I had the same thought." D'Argo lowered his Qualta Rifle and leaned against the wall. "I'm not comfortable with Rygel being the only one we can be sure of."

"I'm not crazy about it, either, but what choice do we have? I'm almost certain he'll."

Their comms clicked. "Constable Sunistas, this is Dari, the one you're searching for." She sounded almost on the verge of hysterical laughter.

"Where are you, changer? Show yourself. Then we can end this." John could hear the anger building in Sunistas's voice.

"Wouldn't you like to know. John, are you there?"

John exchanged a look with D'Argo. "Yeah. I'm here."

"I wanted to apologize for what's happened. I hadn't planned on this."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't exactly on my day planner, either."

Dari was silent for a microt. "You're angry with me, aren't you."

"Who me? Hell no. I've got nothing but warm and fuzzy feeling for you, nothing but bonhomie. Trust me."

"I wish I knew what all that meant. Well, so be it. You'll understand soon."

Sunistas growled, "Pilot of Moya! Where is the changer's signal coming from?"

Pilot sounded almost reluctant to answer. "The comm she's using is on tier ten."

Dari laughed. "Oh, you've found me! Well, Sunistas? Are you coming? Catch me if you can!"

"Oh God, she's got a death wish!" John started running.

As he followed, D'Argo said, "And she's going to take us with her!"

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John slid to a stop in the middle of an intersection and wished he and D'Argo hadn't separated. It's not like we had a choice, he thought. Pilot couldn't give us an exact location for Dari.

John turned completely around and chewed his lower lip. "Come out, come out wherever you are." He turned again and for a microt thought he saw Aeryn standing behind him.

Okay, John, none of that. Once these bastards are off Moya, then.

Footsteps broke his train of thought and mercifully saved him from his own emotions. John looked around and saw Jool coming toward him, a look of apprehension on her face.

"Where's Chiana," John asked when he got close.

"We split up. She thought it would be faster searching this way." Jool looked around quickly. "Have you seen the changer?"

"Not yet. Then again, she could be anyone or anything." John tapped his comm. "D, you see anything?"

"Two annoyed Shralasens heading your way. Nothing else."

"Terrific. Thanks."

John turned at the sound of more footsteps. Two Shralasens came around the corner, both looking angry, both with weapons drawn. "Great. Mutt and Jeff. Look, guys, we haven't found her."

"Crichton!"

John looked down the corridor past Jool. Chiana was running toward him.with Jool at her side.

John felt his eyes go wide. "What the.aw frell." He started to bring up his pulse pistol.

The first Jool looked at the newcomers, then at the Shralasens. "Frell," she said in Dari's voice.

Her body exploded.

It was not a detonation, but rather an explosion of motion. Her body twisted and elongated, changing from the Interon form to.something else. As John watched, the changer leapt over him and dove for the two Shralasen. In a blur of motion, Dari changed forms and fought the deputies. One microt, she took on the form of a Sebacean, then a Luxan, then any number of animalistic forms. The two Shralasen did their best to defend themselves, but one was quickly and easily tossed toward John.

As the first deputy continued to fight with Dari, John turned his attention to the second. As the deputy climbed to his feet, John grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to hold him back.

"D'Argo, get over here," John heard Chiana call out.

"I'm on my way! Hold."

There was a click as someone cut into the circuit. "Deputy Gidlon! Deputy Naplas! What's you're status!" Sunistas didn't sound at all happy. "Report! Report!"

The deputy John held spun and swung out with his right arm, striking John hard in the jaw. As he fell to the deck, John shook his head to clear his suddenly blurred vision. He rolled onto his back, looked up and saw the deputy taking aim for him. John started to get up.

.then he heard the voice.

"John! Stay down!"

As a pulse blast exploded against the deputy's chest, John rolled over and felt his eyes go wide.

Behind Jool and Chiana stood Aeryn, her pulse pistol aimed for the other deputy, waiting for a clear shot.

I must be dreaming. I'm unconscious and Harvey's playing with my head again.

Dari changed form yet again and enveloped the other deputy's head, arms and shoulders. He struggled for another microt. At the sound of shattering bones, the Shralasen went limp and dropped to the deck.

John turned from Dari to Aeryn, anger and confusion battle with sheer joy for dominance in his mind. "Will someone please tell me what the frell's going on?"

Aeryn walked up to John and helped him to his feet. "It was something Dari and I put together. She would impersonate me until we could get the Shralasen off Moya."

"And you couldn't tell us?" Chiana sounded both relieved and angry.

"There wasn't time, Chiana," Dari said as she returned to her Sebacean form. "I had planned on communicating this to you all telepathically, but Sunistas saw through me. After the deputies opened fire, I had to concentrate on maintaining Aeryn's form. It wasn't easy, mimicking a dead body. It took all my concentration, so I couldn't tell you."

"Well, you did a hell of a job." John looked toward Aeryn, part of his mind still expecting her to not be there. "I was getting ready to write your eulogy, Aeryn."

Jool shook her head slowly. "If you're here, then who's laying in Aeryn's room?"

Dari exchanged a look with Aeryn. "That's a hologram. I have a small holoprojector for times when I have to appear to be in two places at once. I scanned Aeryn into its memory and activated it after John left me in her room. By very slowly returning to my natural form, I was able to slide out of the hologram, then out of the room."

John took a deep breath. "I'll somehow find it in my heart to forgive you for scaring the living hell outta me. You're gonna be the death of me, both of you!"

Aeryn smiled for a microt, then looked grim. "I'll apologize later, John. Right now, we have other things to worry about."

"Like Sunistas coming around one of these corners any microt now?" The frightened look on Jool's face deepened, bordering on sheer panic. "As soon as he does and sees us here with Dari, standing over two dead deputies, he's just going to start shooting."

"Anyone have any ideas," Chiana said.

"Start shooting when he comes around the corner," Aeryn suggested.

"No. Maybe we can get through this without shooting." John turned over p0sibilities in his mind. A thin smile crossed his face. "I got it. Aeryn, get out of sight. You have to play dead for a little while longer. Dari, can you play dead?"

"Play dead? You mean pretend I'm dead? I can do that. Why?"

"Back home, we call it playing possum. Here's what we do."

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Sunistas slid to a stop as he rounded the corner. He looked down at the bodies of his two deputies, rage beginning to show on his face. He looked at John, who stood in the middle of the corridor, then at what looked like a puddle of clear liquid at his feet.

"Crichton, what happened?

John didn't answer for a microt. He just stared at Sunistas, his eyes cold and filled with hatred. "I came around the corner and found Dari fighting with this guy. She killed him. His partner thought I was working with her, so he tried to kill me. I out-drew him. Then I shot Dari. It's over with."

He saw D'Argo frown and shake his head. John looked down the corridor as the other three deputies rounded the corner. "And here's the rest of the Keystone Cops. Dari's dead. Leave. Now."

Sunistas waved two of the others over. "Prepare them for transport back to the ship. There is still the matter of the crimes, Crichton. You are still an unknown life form. Add to that aiding an unregistered alien, plus the death of my two deputies."

"Oh frell that!" John drew his pulse pistol and aimed for Sunistas. He saw D'Argo raise his Qualta Rifle and knew the other deputies were taking aim for him. "We tried to play nice, but you don't wanna play at all, do you. Well, I've had it with you, this stretch of space, with everything!"

John lowered the pistol and fired once into the deck. "You have ten microts to get off of Moya, or else the barrel's gonna go completely over Niagara! Trust me, that won't be pretty!"

"He's right," D'Argo said. "The last time he lost control like this, he wiped out an entire village. And all because someone overcooked his meat. Given that you killed the woman he loved."

"That's right. I'm a danger to myself and others. Hell, the way things have been going, I'm thinking of offing everyone then putting a bullet through my head, too." John fired again into the deck. "What're you waiting for? Get your ass movin', boy!"

Sunistas held up his hands and took a step back. "All right, Crichton! We'll leave! There's no need for further loss of life. You're in charge here."

"That's right! I'm in charge, and you will respect my authoritay! Pilot, as soon Sunshine and the boys are off Moya, starburst the hell out of this backwater dump!"

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Dari looked around the maintenance bay as Moya came out of starburst. "Well, it appears the time has come for goodbye."

John nodded slowly as he and Aeryn escorted Dari to her ship. "Yeah, I guess it has. Where will you go from here?"

Dari looked over her ship and frowned at the places the DRDs had executed repairs. "I'll have to put in someplace and put my ship back together again. Where are we?"

"Pilot?"

"We're in the vicinity of a commerce planet, named Varleshan. You should be able to have the necessary work done to your ship there."

"Thank you, Pilot. I have to apologize again for the trouble I caused. If I had known the Shralasen were still in the area, I wouldn't have ever issued the distress call."

"Too late to worry about it now. We made it through. No sense in dwelling on what might have been." Aeryn caught the annoyed look on John's face but chose for a microt to ignore it. "Where will you go now?"

Dari shrugged. "I don't know. Someplace else, I suppose." She started up the ramp into her ship. "Goodbye. Clear skies to you. I'll say a prayer to Li'jha, goddess of the Eternal Water. Perhaps she'll watch over you."

"Someone better. Take care." John watched the ramp raise up.

As the hanger doors slid shut, John crossed his arms and leaned on a workbench. "Y'know, Aeryn, you still haven't apologized to me for making me think you were dead."

"It was part of the plan, John. I didn't have time to tell you or anyone else. Still, you're right. I do owe you an apology."

John nodded. "Yup."

"What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know." John bit his lip, walked to Aeryn's side and slipped an arm around her shoulders. "Why don't we go up to the terrace and see what comes up?"

THE END