Aeryn had been travelling for what seemed like days. She was tired and in serious need of nourishment. Scanning the sensors on her Prowler cockpit, she found a small inhabited planet not far off with communications that suggested they welcomed visitors and had accommodation. Heading into planetary orbit, she input the given co-ordinates for the landing trajectory.
The planet was inhabited with many different species, and tall glass high- rise buildings dominated the skyline, wide enough apart to allow for heavy air traffic. Thankfully for Aeryn the climate was cool, and the distant sun failed to produce much heat.
"'ow can I 'elp yaz?" asked a rather scrawny green alien, as Aeryn stepped out of the cockpit, "youz a Peackeeper ain'tcha?"
Aeryn shook her head. "Ex-Peackeeper. I don't suppose you could tell me where I could find some accommodation?" she asked.
The green alien studied her. Its red eyes barely blinking, "Feh someone such as yaself, yeh gonna want somthin' a bit better then the usual lot we gets around ere'... ya wanna go dahan there... it's the biggun at the end...its'a real classy joint. It'sa bar 'n all!" it said placing a clawed hand on her shoulder.
Aeryn wriggled free, "How much do they charge?"
The alien smiled, "Feh youz? Abhat...I dunno... twenny Kretmas!"
"I was hoping if anyone asked if you had seen me, you could be discrete?" she asked, giving the alien five Kretmas.
"Yeah 'course I will!" it winked, glad of the extra currency.
Aeryn thanked the strange alien, and wandered down the bustling streets that were for commerce. She took the time to browse the many weapon stalls that lined the long road. She found the bar pretty easily. It wasn't hard to miss. Wandering over the bar she dropped her bag at her feet and took a seat on the clear plastic bar stool. "I'll have a fellip nectar," she asked, leaning on the glass bar. The lighting which was 'down to mood lighting' as Crichton would say; made her eyes feel heavy which didn't help her fatigue much.
The alien at the bar handed her the bottle of blue liquid, "That'll be three Kretmas please."
Aeryn handed the alien the currency, and swallowed some of the bitter liquid. It gave her an instant boost. In a way she was glad to be free, and she quite enjoyed just sitting alone watching people drinking, couples fighting over stupid things, and a drunken alien being thrown out. She wondered for a microt what kind of trouble they would be in if Rygel, Chiana, Crichton and the others were here. Probably on the wrong side of a weapon she thought. After the fifth fellip nectar, she had become so lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice a dark figure standing next to her.
"Would you object to me buying you a drink?"
Aeryn swung around to face the source of the voice and nearly choked on her fellip nectar. Standing beside her was none other than Captain Bilar Crais. "FRELL ME DEAD! You're not dead!" she exclaimed, in a mixture of shock and amazement that Crais had survived the Starburst in the Command Carrier.
John lay on his bed facing the ceiling. They had been searching for any sign of Aeryn or her Prowler for at least three solar days without any luck, and he was growing impatient. He was fed up with waking up from nightmares about what could have happened to her or what could happen, when all he wanted was to have her back safe in his arms. He blamed himself. If he had been there... but his trail of thought was cut short when Pilot's voice crackled over the comms. "Crichton... according to the communications from this system we are passing through, a Prowler landed on the centre planet today, and a female Sebacean has been seen in the centre of the trading complex"
"Great work Pilot! Can you have a transport pod ready? I'm gonna get my girl back." John was ecstatic, but the question was would she ever forgive him and would she ever come back to him. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind for the moment and began on formulating a plan. With any luck he could just use the stasis gun, drag her back to Moya and lock her in one of the cells until she had calmed down a little. In reality he knew that would probably not be the case. She was pissed at him, pissed at everyone and they attempts to understand what was wrong. He figured she could and probably would kill him if he pissed her off any more than he already had. He asked for the rest of the crew to meet him in the centre chamber before racing down there himself.
D'argo was concerned. "John, what's wrong,"
He smiled up at his Luxan friend, "Pilot believes he has located Aeryn on the centre planet of this system. Pilot is going to give me the co- ordinates, and I'm gonna go down there and get her."
"And what if she does not come freely?" D'argo asked.
John held up the stasis pistol. "Then I'll bring her back the other way..."
D'argo sighed, but he had no other choice than to go along with it. It was Crichton who handed himself over to Scorpius to get his son back, and now Crichton needed his help to get his wife back. "I will assist you."
"So will I." said Chiana appearing at the door.
Pilot's image flickered onto the clamshell. "The transport pod is prepared for you to leave. I will send the coordinates once you have left Moya."
"Let's go..." John said, holstering Winona and the stasis pistol.
Aeryn smiled at Crais. "So you changed Talyn's energy signature so Moya couldn't detect you?" She was glad to see Crais was still alive and even more pleased that Talyn was too. She listened intently as Crais described how he and Talyn had survived and how much Talyn had grown. They had moved to a booth at the back of the bar. It was quiet and dark, you could see everyone, but they couldn't see you. Aeryn was glad of this. There was no way she wanted to be seen on this planet, but hoped if Crichton somehow managed to find it, she would be long gone, preferably on Talyn.
"After the Starburst in the Command Carrier, we were fortunate to live..." he paused and looked into Aeryn's eyes. "Talyn and I thought it best, if you all thought we were dead, the Peacekeepers would then hopefully come to the same conclusion..."
"But that doesn't explain why you are here." Aeryn replied, resting her head on one hand.
"We are only here for a few arns...just to stock up on supplies. We will be leaving shortly. Thank you for the drink Aeryn," he said getting up to leave.
Aeryn grabbed his gloved hand to stop him from leaving, "Take me with you..." she pleaded.
Crais looked at Aeryn with a slight smile and sat back down, "No...I cannot do that...you belong with Crichton."
"I left him," she blurted out.
"You left your husband?" Crais questioned. In truth Crais wanted Aeryn to go with him. He had longed for her to be with him and Talyn since they were first joined. In truth, he had fallen in love with her, but was never able to tell her because of her intimate relationship for John. "Why?"
Aeryn's eyes watered at the memory she had tried so hard to forget. "I...I can't tell you..."
Sensing her pain, Crais took her hand in his, "I am no longer a Peacekeeper and I...like you have learnt to feel, to care and to love." He placed a hand on her cheek just as she did on the Command Carrier. "Please?"
Aeryn took a sip of her Raslak and took a breath to compose herself. "It started on the Command Carrier that day..." she paused and took another sip from the glass. "I went to the medical bay...to confirm something..." She paused and looked into Crais' eyes, and in return he gave her hand a squeeze of support. "I found out I was pregnant..."
"Pregnant?"
Aeryn smiled weakly. "Yes. Anyway...after destroying the Command Carrier, I left John and I went in search of the Peacekeeper resistance. Anyway...I came back, and the cycle went on. I went to Crichton's home planet, and then after many monens we got back together." She took a breath and looked at her hand as if the wedding rings were still there and then looked at Crais. "Look, can we do this somewhere else?"
"Of course..." Crais replied. "We can continue this in my quarters on Talyn. As I have said he has grown a lot now... there is room for your Prowler even!"
"'ello, 'ow can I 'elp yaz?" asked the same rather scrawny green alien.
"You haven't seen a Sebacean woman? Beautiful grey eyes and long black hair?" John asked.
The alien eyed him wearily. He wasn't going to give any information out. That is without currency. "Whasit to youz?"
"She's my wife..." John replied, "Look if you know anything, I will give you five Kretmas!"
"Five eh?" The green alien said with a sly smile, knowing he was paid five to keep her whereabouts a secret.
John was irritated but if this alien knew something he wanted to know. "Okay. Ten!" He offered.
"Ya wanna go dahan there... I's the bar on the end." The alien was easily brought.
John handed the currency to the green alien and thanked him. "D'argo...the bar down the end of the complex...Aeryn's been seen there!" John broke into a run, with the others following behind. He burst into the bar and scanned the booths and the bar. After a few minutes of looking his heart sank, there was no sign of her. He walked over to the bar and sat down, "Give me a strong Raslak."
"Looks like you've had a bad day" the Sebacean bar man said.
"You could say that..." he replied, swallowing the warm liquid rapidly. "Say, you haven't seen a Sebacean woman...dark hair, grey eyes?"
The bar man looked at John, "Yeah...you just missed her...went off with this other Sebacean guy... is she your mate?"
John nodded, "My wife." He turned away sadly, looked at D'argo and Chiana and shook his head. "She's gone...I've lost her." He said, his eyes watering. "What have I done?" Inside he was kicking himself. He knew the reason she had left was because of him and he hated himself for it.
Chiana hugged him sympathetically, "Don't worry old man! We'll find her!"
Aeryn was back on Talyn and seated on Crais' bed in his quarters. She was amazed at how much Talyn had grown, and how Crais had managed to help him overcome his behaviour problem.
"Here." Crais' said giving Aeryn a very strong, hot Raslak. "So you were saying...you and Crichton got back together?"
Aeryn nodded, "And soon after I was kidnapped and held prisoner on a Scarren freighter. They found out I was pregnant and the things I went through there...well anyway, Crichton rescued me and we headed to Katratzi...its a long story, but in the end we destroyed the frelling place, and then had to close the wormhole back to Earth." Aeryn took another sip of her Raslak, "And then on Qujaga well we were neutralized then reassembled."
Crais looked more than a little confused, "It still doesn't explain why you left Crichton does it?"
Aeryn shut her eyes, dredging up the painful truth for what she hoped would be the last time. "No it doesn't...After Qujaga, Crichton and I married, and everything for us was going so well. We were happy, looking forward to the birth of our first child...then the a few weekens ago..." her eyes began to water, "I was feeling unwell...Crichton and the others were going down to the commerce planet we had found. I asked him to stay with me, I begged him...even pleaded with him, but he was insistent and said he had to get his frelling module seen too and there was a mechanic on the planet that would do it. He just said I'd feel better if I slept for a while. I really wasn't in the mood for arguing as I was feeling hot and faint..." She looked at Crais and seeing his eyes also start to water, she let the tears flow, "I let him go...and while he was gone... I...we...I miscarried. Crais...it was awful...I tried to com him but he wouldn't let me say anything, he just answered saying get some rest...I was alone...I remember there was so much blood...and seeing the tiny body...the heat delirium overtook and I passed out."
Crais and pulled her into his chest, and feeling her violent sobs, he kissed her head gently. "Its okay..." he reassured.
Aeryn shook her head, "No its not...when I came round...John was upset. He asked me why I didn't make him stay when I was feeling unwell...blamed me for not resting when he told me too...and I can't forgive him as I know I tried to make him stay...and now he wonders why I want to be alone...why I don't want to be touched," her mood had turned from tearful to angry. "I couldn't take it today...I just had to get away..."
Crais turned Aeryn's head to face him. Gently and tenderly as he could he kissed her. Aeryn pulled away slightly and studied him. He had changed and she had now seen a totally different side from the Peacekeeper Captain she once knew. His brown eyes were no longer cold and hard, but had warmed and were full of compassion. She let go of her fears, the bad memories, and fell into a passionate kiss. Slowly they undressed each other, kissing each bare patch of skin revealed. They were no longer in control, and they let there senses guide them into sensual lovemaking.