Section 21: New Plan
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Aeryn woke up late two days later to a cold spot on the bed beside her. John hadn't gotten back last night. Aeryn sighed, not really bothered by his absence but missing him all the same. He and Sam had been closeted two tiers away trying to figure out a way to get the humans back to their reality. In other words, they had something to do while the rest of them recovered from the excitement of the past two weekens.
Aeryn had spent a lot of the time on her own putting things back in order in the maintenance bay. With the quiet had come a time to think about everything and nothing. About being tired of getting captured by random people, about keeping her baby safe on Moya, about Chiana and John and D'argo and Rygel, how getting married would or wouldn't change things, and perhaps scariest, about becoming a mother.
Growing up in the peacekeeper ranks left Aeryn with no idea about what to do with a child. On the other hand, she knew that her baby would be loved, not just by her, but by everyone on Moya. She had faith that together they would be fine.
Chiana was especially excited about the baby. Whenever Aeryn visited her, she kept asking about how long pregnancy would be, and what it felt like. It overwhelmed Aeryn a little bit because it was too early to really know a lot of the answers. D'argo knew more about the whole process than she did. He had suggested asking the humans, but Sam was busy with John, and Aeryn didn't feel comfortable talking to the men about pregnancy.
Jack had helped her clean up the day before in the maintenance bay. They hadn't talked much, just worked in a companionable silence that was occasionally broken by questions about where things went or what they did. Aeryn found him easy to talk to, and in many ways like John, ever ready with a reference to something familiar from Earth.
She hadn't seen much of the other two. Daniel had gone in search of people to question about anything and everything. Teal'c on the other hand had spent his time avoiding being alone with Norianti - a situation that seemed to amuse all of the humans and elicit sympathy from the crew. Aeryn sensed the tight control Teal'c held over himself that only relaxed when he was with his teammates. Now the old woman's constant advances bombarded him, and while he was handling them well, Norianti was a force that was fraying even his most stoic reserve. As a result, Teal'c had taken to visiting either Pilot and Moya, where she wouldn't bother him, or D'argo who had no qualms about getting rid of her one way or another.
Now it was ship's morning on the third day after the attack and Aeryn had run out of immediate tasks to do. As of yesterday, the maintenance bay was in order. Other chores that helped Moya function were moot until the ship healed or returned to space. So with few options, Aeryn rose, dressed, and went in search of her missing mate.
She found him where she had left him the night before, only this time he was sprawled on the floor amongst panels of paper, sound asleep. Nearby slept Sam next to the remains of last night's dinner, her head cushioned on her arms. Carefully picking her way through the mess, Aeryn couldn't help but smile at the peaceful tableau.
"John," said Aeryn softly. Gently she shook his shoulder to wake him. "John."
"Mmmrn," he groaned, turning away from her in an effort to pillow deeper into the floor. Only when his fogged brain realized it really wasn't worth the discomfort did he crack his eyelids open. "Morning?" he asked hesitantly.
"Uh- huh," Aeryn nodded. "Come on," she squatted down to help him. "You need to sleep in a bed."
"Wait, wait," he said as they got him to his feet. Letting go of Aeryn, John bent to look for something on one of the papers. The crashing and crinkling woke Sam with a start.
"What time is it?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.
"Morning watch," Aeryn answered. Sam groaned, then grimaced as she looked down at the clothes she had slept in.
"Morning?" she asked again just to be sure. Aeryn smiled at her and nodded.
"Hah! Found it!" John cried behind her. He clutched at one of a million pieces of paper scattered about the room. Aeryn turned to him for an explanation. "We think we can get them back to their reality."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I think," John frowned at the paper. "It's pretty simple actually within the framework of our combined wormhole theory - "
"John," she interrupted before he could get lost in his thoughts again. "Breakfast first."
John looked up and nodded. "Yeah. And maybe a nap."
"I've got to report to the Colonel and get cleaned up," said Sam.
"You look like you could use some sleep too," said John.
Sam offered them a half smile as they parted company at the door. "Then I'm sure the Colonel will order me to bed too."
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"So let me see if I've got this straight," Daniel said, his brow creasing in concentration. "We're going to activate the stargate to get back into the wormhole system that you think connects all realities." Sam nodded. "We'll hold hands so that John can guide us through and essentially match us to the stargate system in our reality. And we'll come out where?"
"Any planet in our reality will suffice," Sam explained. "I'll be able to determine if we're in our reality or one that is really close. But we think that since we came through from a stargate in our reality to this one, we'll go back to our reality."
"How's that? Or do I not want to know?"
"Given the differences in how wormholes function out here, we think that the stargates keep realities separate. Somewhere along the path to P5X-979 there was a breach into this reality. John should be able to find that breach and return us through it into our wormhole system."
"Ah, of course," said Jack blithely.
"So how does John get back?" asked Aeryn, ignoring the Colonel.
"They call that planet they were trying to get to before and I go back through the breach to here," said John. It wasn't the greatest plan, he knew, but theoretically it should work.
"I don't like this plan," said D'argo.
"Neither do I," Aeryn seconded. "I'm going with you."
"No, you're not," John immediately shot back. "It's too risky."
"Which is exactly why you shouldn't go alone."
"What about the baby?" He didn't want to contemplate the million things that could go wrong.
"What about the baby? I want my child to have a father."
"Aeryn, John's right. You can't risk your child."
"But - "
"I'll go with him."
"D'argo, I don't need to cart an extra person around!"
"After your last disaster, I'm not letting you go alone!"
"Hey!" Jack tried to interrupt the growing argument, but the three tallest members of Moya's crew ignored him.
"Going through the wormhole is bad enough -"
"And you could be in hostile territory when you come out!"
"Hey! Shut up!" shouted Jack at the top of his lungs. Immediately all eyes were upon him. "Can't you people make a decision without arguing?" The human commander looked back and forth between them in disbelief.
"Isn't D'argo supposed to be the captain?" asked Daniel.
"For decisions pertaining to Moya and our movements as a crew. Which this is not," said John.
"I beg to differ John. I am not losing you!" snapped Aeryn, her eyes flashing angrily.
"And I'm not losing you!"
"Hey! Hey!" Jack shouted again. More hostile glares shot his way. "Aeryn and D'argo, you stay here. John will take us through and come back. He knows what he's doing. He'll be fine."
"Knows what he's doing?"
"Oh, no. I'm still going with him."
Jack gave up as the argument once again picked up around them. His fellow teammates gave him sympathetic smiles for his vain attempts at getting things into motion. Norianti and Stark left soon after. Apparently, this wasn't going to end anytime soon. Rygel joined the four of them at one end of the table. "No you understand how I feel," he said. "No one ever listens to me either."
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Thanks the binksbabe for catching important continuity details and making sure I fixed them.
*
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Aeryn woke up late two days later to a cold spot on the bed beside her. John hadn't gotten back last night. Aeryn sighed, not really bothered by his absence but missing him all the same. He and Sam had been closeted two tiers away trying to figure out a way to get the humans back to their reality. In other words, they had something to do while the rest of them recovered from the excitement of the past two weekens.
Aeryn had spent a lot of the time on her own putting things back in order in the maintenance bay. With the quiet had come a time to think about everything and nothing. About being tired of getting captured by random people, about keeping her baby safe on Moya, about Chiana and John and D'argo and Rygel, how getting married would or wouldn't change things, and perhaps scariest, about becoming a mother.
Growing up in the peacekeeper ranks left Aeryn with no idea about what to do with a child. On the other hand, she knew that her baby would be loved, not just by her, but by everyone on Moya. She had faith that together they would be fine.
Chiana was especially excited about the baby. Whenever Aeryn visited her, she kept asking about how long pregnancy would be, and what it felt like. It overwhelmed Aeryn a little bit because it was too early to really know a lot of the answers. D'argo knew more about the whole process than she did. He had suggested asking the humans, but Sam was busy with John, and Aeryn didn't feel comfortable talking to the men about pregnancy.
Jack had helped her clean up the day before in the maintenance bay. They hadn't talked much, just worked in a companionable silence that was occasionally broken by questions about where things went or what they did. Aeryn found him easy to talk to, and in many ways like John, ever ready with a reference to something familiar from Earth.
She hadn't seen much of the other two. Daniel had gone in search of people to question about anything and everything. Teal'c on the other hand had spent his time avoiding being alone with Norianti - a situation that seemed to amuse all of the humans and elicit sympathy from the crew. Aeryn sensed the tight control Teal'c held over himself that only relaxed when he was with his teammates. Now the old woman's constant advances bombarded him, and while he was handling them well, Norianti was a force that was fraying even his most stoic reserve. As a result, Teal'c had taken to visiting either Pilot and Moya, where she wouldn't bother him, or D'argo who had no qualms about getting rid of her one way or another.
Now it was ship's morning on the third day after the attack and Aeryn had run out of immediate tasks to do. As of yesterday, the maintenance bay was in order. Other chores that helped Moya function were moot until the ship healed or returned to space. So with few options, Aeryn rose, dressed, and went in search of her missing mate.
She found him where she had left him the night before, only this time he was sprawled on the floor amongst panels of paper, sound asleep. Nearby slept Sam next to the remains of last night's dinner, her head cushioned on her arms. Carefully picking her way through the mess, Aeryn couldn't help but smile at the peaceful tableau.
"John," said Aeryn softly. Gently she shook his shoulder to wake him. "John."
"Mmmrn," he groaned, turning away from her in an effort to pillow deeper into the floor. Only when his fogged brain realized it really wasn't worth the discomfort did he crack his eyelids open. "Morning?" he asked hesitantly.
"Uh- huh," Aeryn nodded. "Come on," she squatted down to help him. "You need to sleep in a bed."
"Wait, wait," he said as they got him to his feet. Letting go of Aeryn, John bent to look for something on one of the papers. The crashing and crinkling woke Sam with a start.
"What time is it?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.
"Morning watch," Aeryn answered. Sam groaned, then grimaced as she looked down at the clothes she had slept in.
"Morning?" she asked again just to be sure. Aeryn smiled at her and nodded.
"Hah! Found it!" John cried behind her. He clutched at one of a million pieces of paper scattered about the room. Aeryn turned to him for an explanation. "We think we can get them back to their reality."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I think," John frowned at the paper. "It's pretty simple actually within the framework of our combined wormhole theory - "
"John," she interrupted before he could get lost in his thoughts again. "Breakfast first."
John looked up and nodded. "Yeah. And maybe a nap."
"I've got to report to the Colonel and get cleaned up," said Sam.
"You look like you could use some sleep too," said John.
Sam offered them a half smile as they parted company at the door. "Then I'm sure the Colonel will order me to bed too."
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"So let me see if I've got this straight," Daniel said, his brow creasing in concentration. "We're going to activate the stargate to get back into the wormhole system that you think connects all realities." Sam nodded. "We'll hold hands so that John can guide us through and essentially match us to the stargate system in our reality. And we'll come out where?"
"Any planet in our reality will suffice," Sam explained. "I'll be able to determine if we're in our reality or one that is really close. But we think that since we came through from a stargate in our reality to this one, we'll go back to our reality."
"How's that? Or do I not want to know?"
"Given the differences in how wormholes function out here, we think that the stargates keep realities separate. Somewhere along the path to P5X-979 there was a breach into this reality. John should be able to find that breach and return us through it into our wormhole system."
"Ah, of course," said Jack blithely.
"So how does John get back?" asked Aeryn, ignoring the Colonel.
"They call that planet they were trying to get to before and I go back through the breach to here," said John. It wasn't the greatest plan, he knew, but theoretically it should work.
"I don't like this plan," said D'argo.
"Neither do I," Aeryn seconded. "I'm going with you."
"No, you're not," John immediately shot back. "It's too risky."
"Which is exactly why you shouldn't go alone."
"What about the baby?" He didn't want to contemplate the million things that could go wrong.
"What about the baby? I want my child to have a father."
"Aeryn, John's right. You can't risk your child."
"But - "
"I'll go with him."
"D'argo, I don't need to cart an extra person around!"
"After your last disaster, I'm not letting you go alone!"
"Hey!" Jack tried to interrupt the growing argument, but the three tallest members of Moya's crew ignored him.
"Going through the wormhole is bad enough -"
"And you could be in hostile territory when you come out!"
"Hey! Shut up!" shouted Jack at the top of his lungs. Immediately all eyes were upon him. "Can't you people make a decision without arguing?" The human commander looked back and forth between them in disbelief.
"Isn't D'argo supposed to be the captain?" asked Daniel.
"For decisions pertaining to Moya and our movements as a crew. Which this is not," said John.
"I beg to differ John. I am not losing you!" snapped Aeryn, her eyes flashing angrily.
"And I'm not losing you!"
"Hey! Hey!" Jack shouted again. More hostile glares shot his way. "Aeryn and D'argo, you stay here. John will take us through and come back. He knows what he's doing. He'll be fine."
"Knows what he's doing?"
"Oh, no. I'm still going with him."
Jack gave up as the argument once again picked up around them. His fellow teammates gave him sympathetic smiles for his vain attempts at getting things into motion. Norianti and Stark left soon after. Apparently, this wasn't going to end anytime soon. Rygel joined the four of them at one end of the table. "No you understand how I feel," he said. "No one ever listens to me either."
************************************************************************
Thanks the binksbabe for catching important continuity details and making sure I fixed them.
*