Aeryn lay sleeping in her old quarters on Talyn. She had been restless all night, and it didn't help that Moya was hot on their tail and had been for the past two solar days. Even a starburst still hadn't managed to shake Moya, and Aeryn was increasingly worried what would happen if Moya caught up with her son.
"Hey! Get back here!" John laughed.Aeryn stood in the doorway of their quarters and smiled deviously. "What if I don't want to?" she asked.
"That's simple," he replied. "I will have to come over there and get you." He walked towards here with a glint in his eye, but Aeryn was ready for him. As he pounced she dodged out of his way.
"Come on now Crichton," she teased, "You will have to do a lot better than that." And with a slight laugh she ran off down the passageway, with John following behind.
"I will catch you...and when I do you are gonna be in trouble."
Aeryn stopped and turned around. She bit her bottom lip and shook her head, "No. You will be in more trouble."
"Yeah? I'd like to see that!" John replied, raising an eyebrow.
"You would?" she asked. John nodded in reply as she sauntered over to him. "What if I let you catch me?" she said softly.
"The same thing will happen...what of I let you catch me?"
Aeryn smiled, "Why don't you find out?"
With a cheeky smile, John turned around and ran back down the passageway that led to the quarters they now shared on Talyn. "When the cats away, the mice will play!" John had said to Aeryn, referring to Crais who had gone down to the commerce planet with Stark and Rygel, leaving he and Aeryn with the ship to themselves.
Aeryn soon caught up with him and had him trapped in a corner of their quarters. "Give up now John, while you still can." She smiled slightly, and John sprang forward. Aeryn jumped on him and wrapped her legs around his waist, "I NEVER give up!" he replied, throwing her on their bed. He smiled down at her and kissed her softly and she kissed him back; her lips caressing his and his tongue caressing hers. They undressed each other slowly, kissing the bare flesh that was slowly being revealed. John pulled her closer, "We'll never be without each other..." he smiled.
Aeryn shook her head, her eyes locked with his. "No..." she whispered.
Her eyes flickered open on the word "No." Still bleary eyed and confused form her dream, she rolled over to place an arm around a figure that was no longer there. "Crichton?" she asked, before she realized that it had in fact only been a dream. She sighed deeply, and stared at the now vacant spot that was once reserved for her mate.
Crais' voice crackled over the comms. "Aeryn. Moya had just made contact with Talyn; he wants to see his mother again.
Aeryn grabbed her bag and raced down to command. "Will I be able to leave before Moya detects my Prowler?" she asked. Now Moya had found Talyn, she knew Crichton would ask for Crais to help.
"No Aeryn. I am afraid not."
"Frell!" she cursed.
"I am opening a comms link as not to raise suspicion. I will not mention your presence aboard Talyn." Crais reassured.
Johns image flickered onto a holoscreen. "My boy Crais! Kinda surprised to see you alive...but we have a crisis aboard and we were wondering if you could help. Aeryn went missing on a reconnaissance a while ago..." he lied. "We hoped you and Talyn would help."
"Of course Commander. Aeryn is a friend and we will do what we can to help. We will search on Talyn's long range sensors for any signs of her."
"Great." John replied, "D'argo and I will be right over."
"You I will permit, but not Ka D'argo."
Aeryn glared at Crais, "Are you insane?" she hissed.
"Crichton will not know you are here, unlike Ka D'argo, who would be able to detect your scent all over me from where we made...recreated."
"Won't Crichton see my Prowler?" she asked, trying to avoid the fact she had slept with Crais.
"No. Your Prowler has been sealed off in another section of the hangar. He will not know it is there."
"And what am I supposed to do? Hide?" Aeryn said sarcastically.
"No, but you should confine yourself to your quarters until it is safe enough to leave." Crais replied. He didn't want Aeryn being discovered almost as much as she didn't want to be. And after the previous night, he was reluctant to let her leave at all.
Aeryn nodded, "I will take some food cubes seeing as we have no idea how long he will stay. Make sure he goes nowhere near my quarters okay?" She was giving up. She couldn't face Crichton. How could she explain why she was on Talyn? How could she face Crichton after what she'd done with Crais? She took enough food cubes, fellip nectar and water to last a few days.
"Crichton has come aboard, get to your quarters." Crais informed Aeryn.
John Crichton had found his way to command, "Hey Crais."
"Hello Commander." Crais replied. He was staring at the man that caused the woman he loved, so much pain. He fought back the overwhelming urge to kill him. But he knew deep down that if he killed Crichton, Aeryn would more than likely kill him, no matter how much she hated John at that moment.
"So you got some quarters for me? I kinda figured I'd stay here until we found here."
"Frell!" Aeryn exclaimed, listening to a one-way comms system. "Say no Crais..." she urged, although she knew he couldn't here her. "Come on..." she willed.
"There are empty quarters on the top tier, I'll get a DRD to show you. I have something to attend to."
"Cheers Crais." John said, forcing a smile.
Anger overtook Aeryn as she heard those words. She fought down the urge to storm out of the room. Crais had knowingly given quarters to Crichton, the man she was trying to avoid. What the frell was he thinking? A sickening feeling built inside her. What if Crais asked Crichton to pay him for the information to where she was? She knew Crais put himself first and she knew Crichton would pay up. Unwillingly...but he would pay. Her thoughts were interrupted when the door to her quarters slid open...
TBC...