Author: Auna
Title: Old Haunts; Book One, Epilogue
Rating: PG
Betas: scrubschick, ScaperRed and shipsister… thank you, thank you, thank you
A special note of thanks to my creative consultant, Sanchez; he put this picture in my mind about six months ago, and then watched an entire story unfold around it. I bet you thought I forgot all about this, huh? This story is just as much yours as it is mine.
Standard Disclaimer: Some are mine, some aren't. You know the difference.
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"We did it," Tean said quietly to his companions. All three men were huddled in the small command area, searching the sensors for any trace of pursuit. "They're not after us."
"We did it," Sethya echoed in shocked reverie. This had to be the first time that The Plan had worked. Not only had it worked, it had worked flawlessly.
The three of them had entered a command carrier, broke into the information mainframe, stolen High Command's top secrets, and walked out without one person raising an eyebrow. Ident Chips had worked at every checkpoint, no one recognized the two fugitives, no one questioned their mission, or the veracity of their hybrid prisoner they dragged with them. Gweer had come through on every promise, and now they were far away from any trace of Peacekeeper presence.
"WE DID IT!" Laighn shouted joyously. They were free! He'd had the easiest job of the three, pretend to be a prisoner and follow his two companions wherever they went. But he'd had the most stressful job as well, being surrounded by countless Sebaceans with superiority complexes that considered him a travesty of nature.
Tean let out a WHOOP of triumph and smacked Laighn across the back, laughing in his victory. Sethya merely sat back, closing his eyes, shoving his fingers through his thick choppy hair.
"Lighten up, Seth," Tean said. "Only twenty three more arns and we'll be at the rendezvous spot."
Sethya let his eyes rest briefly on Tean's face, smiling slightly before they were closed again. He wanted to be as happy as the two men with him, but in his mind he kept seeing the dark monitor, and all the information he was able to absorb as it was being downloaded onto the information casks.
They had to get Brennik and John out of this sector… now. It was only a matter of time. The sheer volume of personnel working on this assignment was staggering, and it was a miracle the family hadn't been apprehended yet.
"How long?" he asked his brother again.
"Twenty three arns," he answered, patting him Sethya on the shoulder. "Maybe I can make it twenty if I…"
"Do what you need to, Tean. We're the only ones with the information that can save them."
"Yes Cap'n," Tean said, trying for Scotty's accent, but butchering it with his Sebacean dialect. Would they never be able to purge themselves of all those movies John forced them to watch?
Sethya stood and punched him lightly in the arm before leaving command quietly. This was going to be a very long twenty arns.
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"There they are!" Chiana shouted, jumping up in her excitement, pointing to the large screen in front of the group.
Brennik was next to her in half a microt, throwing her arms around her friend, sharing the excitement. "He did it!" she hollered in Chiana's ear. Both women were crying as they clung to each other, jumping up and down together, staring at the ship on the screen. "He kept his promise!"
Aeric sat quietly in a corner, visibly rolling his eyes, but just as excited as his sister. He'd been keeping vigil with the two women for several arns now, and it looked as if their patience had paid off. The men had even managed to get back a few arns early.
"D'Argo!" Chiana shouted into her comms. "He's back! Shedya is here!"
"I'll meet you in the docking bay," he answered breathlessly, obviously already running to his destination.
All three occupants of the command ran from the room, headed for the docking bay.
John jogged into the room, breathless and unsurprised to see everyone there already. Everyone but Aeryn, anyway. He'd just left her leaning over their toilet, emptying her stomach of lunch. He had been trying to offer comfort and support when Chiana's excited yell echoed over every comm on Moya.
Aeryn must have been really glad for the diversion, she'd all but threatened to shoot him if he didn't leave her alone and go the docking bay to greet the boys. He'd insisted on staying with her in her misery, but she assured him that he would soon be just as miserable if he didn't just frelling leave.
Women. He'd been married for twenty three years now, and he STILL didn't know how to deal with this crap. Of course, there had been a twenty-year hiatus in the middle of that, so he ought to give himself a break, he thought as he scanned the room and quickly found D'Argo and Chiana.
His Luxan friend was standing next to Chiana, tolerating the excited energy pouring from the Nebari. She couldn't stand still and John realized how far D'Argo had come, to stand there patiently and not yell once.
He walked up to D'Argo and patted his friend on the back. D'Argo smiled at him and rolled his eyes, nodding in Chiana's direction. The sound of the ship approaching could be heard behind the barrier wall, and the landing was quickly accomplished.
The wall opened and there was Shadow. It took several microts longer than normal for the ramp to lower, but it finally descended, shedding bright light from the ship's interior into the docking bay. No one emerged.
John and D'Argo shared a nervous look before D'Argo stepped forward. "Shedya!"
Brennik ran to the base of the ramp. "Sethya! What's wrong?" She started up the ramp, but was stopped by D'Argo's long arm wrapped around her waist, grabbing her and lowering her to the floor.
"Wait here," he instructed to everyone in the room, motioning for John to join him and pulled his Qualta Blade from its sheath.
John pulled Winona from her holster, and the two men ascended the ramp, unsurprised to hear Brennik and Chiana close behind them. He wasn't sure what they would find inside. Visions of the three boy's mutilated bodies played through his mind and he shoved the awful pictures aside.
"Chiana, please, keep Brennik out of here for a few microts," John asked pointedly, glancing at his daughter, ignoring her angry protests.
D'Argo looked at John gratefully as Chiana understood the problem and pulled the young woman from the ramp, holding the girl in her grey arms.
The two men entered cautiously, ready for anything. What they saw was nothing. The men were not aboard. It only took a couple of minutes to quickly search the entire ship, and the only body they uncovered was one blood tracker.
Something had happened on board. Everything was completely trashed and various colored blood splatters sprinkled several walls.
D'Argo, who had separated with John to cover more rooms quickly, joined the human in the small command. "I should never have let him go off like that," he said, the pain breaking through his voice.
"We'll get him D," he assured, patting his friend on the arm, returning a promise the Luxan had once made to him. "Wherever he is, we'll find him"