Title: Close Encounters
Author: Auna
Rating: PG
Setting: About 24 cycles after Bad Timing
Disclaimer: Farscape isn't mine and I'm not making any money.
Betas: Aeryncrichton, ScaperRed and shipsister. Thank you! Thank you to all the bunnies for help with certain difficulties. You really came through for me.
Author's notes: This is part of the Future Universe Series I'd written. I don't think you have read the earlier stories to get this one, but it would give you a lot of insight into the characters and their motivations if you did. All of the stories are here on Fanfiction .net.
In the order they should be read, they are: Finding Herself, Death and Resurrection, Revelations, Target Practice, Reckoning, Snapshots in Time, Deliverance, Old Haunts Book One, Old Haunts Book Two.
As some of you know, I stopped writing this storyline to work on an original story. But it stalled and I needed a distraction, so I wrote this as a present to myself. Hopefully now I can get back to the other. Thank you to the many people who've PM'ed me. You know who you are, and I wanted you to know how much I appreciate all the nice things you've said.
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"Aeric, two behind you!" John yelled just before the blasts jolted them forward. Smoke started rising from the controls and the young man was scared. This module wasn't built to take this kind of damage, and she was getting on in years. He threw the controls hard to the right, setting them spinning downward.
The following fighters kept pace with him. He was way out of his league, and if something wasn't done soon, both he and his father wouldn't make it 60 more microts. Another blast hit, jolting them to the side.
Aeric heard a resounding crack from the small space behind him and fear coursed through his stomach. "Dad, what just broke?" He asked, evading the second shot. There was no reply. Twisting his head, he was only able to get a fast glance at his father before he was forced to turn his attention to the window in front of him.
But one glance had been enough. John leaned heavily against the seat, his eyes closed, blood trickling from his head in a small stream down his face, dropping from his chin onto his black leather pants.
Great Cholak, did his father just die because he wasn't a good enough pilot?
The fighters had appeared out of nowhere while John had been giving Aeric some lessons on wormhole flying. He said he'd wanted to give him some practice, "just in case". They'd chosen this spot because it was clear of any planets or other solar objects, and Moya could easily locate it when she returned from the supply trip to the commerce planet they'd learned of.
His family wasn't due back for three more arns, and his father was unconscious, possibly dead, in the seat behind him while two fighters chased him in circles, pounding blasts against his hull.
This was the end. He couldn't stay ahead of the pirates, and no one was there to save him. He almost gave up hope, when a slight tingling started in his fingers and toes. Pressure began to build behind his eyes, pushing harder and harder until he was afraid his eyes would be pushed from their sockets.
There was only one other time he'd felt this way, and anxiously he watched the view before him, willing the snaking tunnel to appear before the ship firing at him scored a direct hit.
A blast of light momentarily blinded him, and it took a microt for him to regain his sight well enough to see the emerging, swirling tunnel. The gravity of the wormhole grabbed the module and pulled relentlessly, sucking the ship into the abyss.
Aeric wasn't sure if he was ready, he'd only flown through one once. But the alternative was the two ships intent on killing him, so he didn't fight the entrance. Instantly he was sliding uncontrollably through a blue swirling funnel. Grabbing hard at the controls, it took all his strength to hold on and keep a trajectory.
It felt like he was falling, and through his panic he could hear his screams echo throughout the small cockpit as he twisted and turned. Get a grip, boy. Think! He forced himself to first take one deep breath, then another, then another.
Feeling the tension slightly fade, the inner music of the wormhole slowly seeped into his body. Now he was in familiar territory. Following the inner cadences on instinct, the controls beneath his hands eased their fight. The ship slowly leveled out and he found that he could smoothly fly his father's module.
He wasn't sure where he was going, but he was no longer in free-fall and the inner tug on his consciousness became more insistent. Right, left, down, left, left, up again. Connecting tunnels sped past him at breakneck speeds, but he ignored them all and followed the inner beacon.
It felt as if he were flying for arns before he finally left the tunnel of the wormhole and sped out into clear space. The blue swirling mass closed in behind him and the music disappeared, leaving him alone with his unconscious father, lost in a piece of space that he was completely alien to.
What the frell was he supposed to do now?
Scanning his father's monitors, he located a small planet not far away that would sustain their life functions and headed for a sparsely populated section. He was probably being overly cautious, but until he could figure out where they were in relation to the numerous enemies hunting them, he wasn't taking any chances.
Entering the atmosphere was rough, but he maintained control, landing the module in a small clearing in the middle of thick foliage. He stopped for a moment and rested his head on the console before him, trying to calm his shaking hands and ragged breathing. But he didn't have time to indulge in a breakdown, his father needed him.
Punching the hatch release, he breathed in the damp, fresh air greedily and stood, turning to his father. Leaning over the seat, he pushed a finger under the older man's nose and waited impatiently. At last, he felt slight air flowing and he breath a sigh of relief. At least he was alive.
The next part would be the hardest. Stepping out onto the wing, he felt the module tip slowly until the edge hit the ground. Bracing his feet and leaning into the cockpit, he put his arms under his father's shoulder's and heaved with all the strength he could pull out of his thin arms. When all this was over and they were safe on Moya, he was definitely going to lift some weights.
His father was dead weight, but he managed to haul him to the edge. With the tilt of the module and some serious strain on his son's back and arms, John was lifted onto the wing. It wasn't elegant or smooth, and his father would probably have an extra nasty bruise over his left cheekbone where his face planted against the wing when Aeric lost his footing once, but he was finally out of the module and laying flat on the ground.
The first thing Aeric did after catching his breath was to pull John's holsters from around the older man's waist. His family would be gloating right now, but Dad wouldn't be able to use them, and Aeric had no clue how hostile the locals were. He had to adjust the straps to their smallest allowed setting, but at last he buckled it on.
Even adjusted, it still hung low on his hips, the thigh straps slightly loose. He practiced pulling Winona and "the other one" from their respective resting places a few times before he felt satisfied that he had them on correctly.
Dusk was setting in and orange and purple streaks stretched across the sky, casting shadows and distorting images. Aeric turned to his father and stretched him out next to the module, making him as comfortable as possible. He removed the long duster jacket and spread it across him for a blanket. He removed his own short, leather jacket, folding it neatly and putting under his father's head.
John moaned once, which actually encouraged him, but he didn't regain consciousness. Dren. Aeric's stomach growled loudly and he ignored it, unwilling to go exploring alone on this alien world, and unwilling to leave his father behind with no one to watch over him.
Instead, he gathered together some orange leaves and placed them in a small circle of rocks before shooting them with Winona. A small spark caught, and he quickly added a few twigs and small sticks. A few microts later, he had a small fire burning, crackling in its enthusiasm.
He probably shouldn't have chanced it, but he was afraid his father would catch a chill. It was then that he remembered the first-aid-kit and he rummaged through the interior of the module, producing a small box.
Feeling like an idiot for not thinking of it earlier, he sorted through the contents and pulled out a sealed, wet cloth that was supposed to kill just about any topical infection in the universe. Grabbing a bandage and some tape, he scooted to his father and gently began cleaning the wound at the top of his hairline, and the blood that had cascaded down his face.
The bleeding had stopped, luckily, and once the blood had been wiped away, Aeric was relieved to see that it had looked much worse than it really was. He only had one small gash, roughly half a dench long. A giant knot was forming, and it was going to turn in to a very impressive bruise, but no other major damage was apparent. How did you treat a concussion for a human?
He didn't have long to wonder or worry. Sometime while he was administering first aid to his father, the sun had set and blackness surrounded him. The only light was his small fire a couple motras away, crackling at him merrily. His stomach growled again and he wondered what Noranti was cooking for dinner on Moya.
The growling grew louder, more insistent, and the noise was far louder than the minimal amount of cramping his stomach should merit. The ground began to shake slightly, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. A loud BOOM echoed overhead, rattling his teeth and vibrating every vein in his body, sending his heart into overdrive.
Because of the darkness outside the immediate circle of the firelight, he couldn't see more than a few motras away, and he scurried to his sleeping father as he kicked dirt over the small flames in a frantic effort to douse the signal. Crowding close to the sleeping figure, he did his best to cover his father's body and still keep watch for the unseen predators.
The ground shook harder and the rumbling noise increased, surrounding him on all sides. Whatever was out there was ensuring there would be no escape. Animals he had never heard before barked and howled, growing closer with the low rumble.
The fire was out and he crouched in low, trying to cover his father with his body as best he could. None of these bastards were going to take his father without a fight.
Circular lights broke through the trees, sweeping back and forth, obscuring the aliens holding the giant beams. There was nothing he could do but wait. Unholstering the two pistols, he held them out in opposite directions, aiming for the approaching lights as best he could with their erratic movement.
"John?" a deep voice called through the darkness, over the sound of the rumbling vehicles drawing closer. "John, is that you?"
They'd found him. Somehow they managed to find him on the opposite side of the universe, down a frelling wormhole. Aeric should have known better. His father had tried to warn him, hadn't he? He'd said that bad things happen when you tried to use wormholes to fix your problems, and now by escaping the pirates through the wormhole, he'd alerted their enemies to his father's whereabouts.
Maybe they'd had some monitoring device on the wormholes, tracking the movements in and out. Maybe that's why his father avoided them so adamantly.
"Back off!" he yelled into the darkness, trying to lower his voice to be more intimidating.
A loud, steady thwap, thwap, thwap, sounded overhead and a flying machine with a large beacon illuminated the area as it hovered directly over Aeric, John and the module. At last, Aeric could see the aliens tracking him.
They were Sebacean. The thought should have been comforting to find that they were his own kind, but it only served to compound his fear hundredfold. The Sebaceans were chasing his sister, had been pursuing John for countless cycles.
"Back off!" he yelled again, waving Winona at the men approaching.
They all stopped and one man stepped forward from the crowd, his hands held open and out, showing them weaponless. He was tall and gaunt, with grey hair and a slim face. He looked concerned and he seemed to be as confused as Aeric.
"Listen, son. We're not going to hurt you," the man assured him, looking from Aeric to his father laying beneath him. The boy leaned forward, slightly covering John. There was something vaguely familiar about the underlying language the man spoke, but Aeric wasn't in the right frame of mind to try to figure out exactly what.
"I am NOT your son!" Aeric hollered. "And I don't believe you," he said, pointing a pistol directly at the man's chest. He didn't look anything like that Scorpy freak, but he'd learned the hard way that you had to be very careful.
"My name is Jack Crichton..."
"Jack?" Aeric interrupted, disbelief and incredulity crowding into his mind. "Where is this?" Aeric asked. He was scared, and he thought vaguely that it was probably a stupid question, but if there were Sebaceans around pretending to be a relation, maybe he wasn't as far away from home as he feared. He might be able to get them back to Moya, if he recognized this place... and if he managed to get away from these people. They obviously knew what they were doing. He realized that the familiarity was English.
"This is Canada," the man replied, obviously still nervous. "You are in possession of an IASA space module belonging to John Crichton. How did you obtain it, and where is Crichton?"
"Canada?" Aeric asked dismayed, ignoring the question of his transportation. He'd never heard of that planet before. "What system is this in?"
"You're on Earth," the man replied.
Earth.
How the frell did he manage to fly them to Earth? Cold chills spread throughout his arms and legs, and an icy claw ripped at his heart. Dad said that they could never go to earth because it would be too dangerous for the small planet. He just may have brought all the Scarren and Peacekeeper legions to his father's home world, all in the name of escaping some insignificant pirates.
The man who called himself Jack, who looked to be about the same age as John, stepped slowly forward again and Aeric didn't stop him. He was scared, he was confused, he was lost, and his father lay unmoving beneath him. He needed help, and the man approaching looked genuinely concerned. He'd probably regret this, but he was out numbered and he realized his standoff was pointless.
"This is John Crichton," he said pointing to his father, his shoulders slumped with defeat. "He needs help. He hit his head."
Jack looked at him in disbelief, but hurried over as his companions continued to stand guard with their weapons trained on the boy. His face was close to Aeric's, and the boy could see the resemblance between them now.
"This can't be John," the man said, placing two fingers on the side of John's neck. "John is in his early thirties." There was doubt in Jack's face as he searched the unconscious man for recognition.
"Frell," Aeric sighed under his breath. Not only had he gone back to Earth, but he'd pulled them back in time as well. If there was one thing his father had stressed during every single wormhole lesson, it was that you never, never, never went back in time. "When was the last time he was here on Earth?" Aeric asked.
"About six months ago," the man said. "So who is this?"
"This is John," Aeric answered. "Scan him if you have to. It's him."
Their eyes met and Aeric held his gaze, trying to convince his grandfather of the truth. The older man finally waved and the rest of the soldiers advanced, lowering their weapons. Things began happening too quickly and he was barely able to absorb what was going on as men in uniforms loaded his father onto a stretcher and put him in the back of a vehicle, which he was proud of himself for recognizing as an ambulance.
He began to crawl into the ambulance with his father when a warm hand grasped his shoulder. He whirled around to find Jack looking at him with concern. To his surprise, the human moved his hand to Aeric's arm and helped him into the ambulance, crawling in after him. They sat side by side as vehicle began to move. At first, the momentum was slow, but soon they reached a smooth hard road and a siren blared as they raced to the medical facilities.
At least, Aeric had been assured that they would be medical facilities. He still wasn't one hundred percent sure that all of this was real. He'd seen the lengths the Peacekeepers and Scarrens would go to catch the master of wormholes, and he knew that all of this could be an elaborate trick.
His hand slid to his pulse pistol on his hip and he eyed everyone in the small vehicle suspiciously. He'd wait to see what was going to happen, but he was going to be ready to escape, with his father, if need be.
Jack was sitting quietly, staring at John on the stretcher with tubes hooked to his arms. His elbows rested on his knees and he looked tired. "That is John, isn't it?" he asked quietly, sadly.
Aeric nodded. "Yes," he answered in English. He didn't know a whole lot of his father's native language, but he'd picked up bits and pieces.
"What happened to him?" Jack asked.
Not, "why are you here?" not, "who are you?", but "What happened to him?"
Now he knew where his father got his sense of priorities from.
"Life happened." He didn't know what else, or how much to say. He was in a tricky situation here. If he said too much he could screw up history, he could accidentally end life in the universe as they all knew it. At least, to hear his father talk about it, he could if he wasn't careful.
"How is this possible?"
Aeric shrugged. "A lot of impossible things seem to happen all the time. Especially to us."
Jack turned his attention to Aeric and studied him carefully, his eyes seemingly missing nothing. "Who are you?" he finally asked, guessing the answer, but not quite willing to believe yet.
"My name is Aeric," the young man answered. He diverted his eyes back to his father and tried to change the subject. "Don't let them ruin the module; we need it to get back." Right now he had a million questions he wanted to ask, questions that could never be answered.
He wanted to take advantage of this miracle of an opportunity to see the world that had fascinated him from the moment he'd learned of its existence. But he knew he had to get his father better and get out of here as quickly as possible. Mom would be going crazy on Moya.
Jack took the hint and didn't pry further. "Where's Moya? We didn't locate her on any of our scanners."
Was he interrogating him? "I don't know where Moya is right now," he answered obscurely, but truthfully.
"I want to help you, Aeric. But I need answers."
"I can't give you any," he replied, not making eye contact. "John hit his head. He needs to get better and we need to get out of here."
"You can't tell, me, or you won't tell me?" Jack asked.
"Both."
He nodded and returned his gaze to his son. Aeric knew that he hadn't given up, but he was letting the matter rest for now.
######
Everything hurt like hell. His head was pounding harder than the percussion section at a half-time show. His body was sore and when he tried to open his eyes, all he could see was white blurriness.
His eyes slowly focused and he realized he was staring at a white ceiling. Slowly turning his head to the side, he braced himself against the rolling pain cascading through his skull, reminding him a little of the side effects of the aurora chair. The first thing to enter his line of vision was his father sitting in a chair beside his bed, eyes closed.
Frell. Not again. What had the mid-probes thought up this time?
What was the last thing he remembered? He forced his mind to cast back and reconstruct those last few minutes and all he could recall was Aeric trying desperately to dodge two ships that were firing on them. Damn if they hadn't come out of nowhere.
Where was Aeric? Forcing himself to sit up, he had to brace his hand on the bed when his head nearly exploded with the effort and the room swam precariously around him. His first worries were to get out of this new rabbit hole, and to find his son. After that he would worry about where they were and how to get back to Moya.
In theory, those were his first worries. In reality, he had to figure out how to move without waking up the man in the chair, and how to get out of this bed with his head still attached to his neck.
Once the room stopped its roller coaster impersonation, he gently swung his legs over the side of the bed and paused again to give the room time to stop spinning. None of this was any good for his stomach and he forced himself to breath deeply to hold the nausea at bay.
The door to the room opened silently, and Aeric slipped though. His clothes were rumpled and he had dark circles under his eyes, but at one glance at his father sitting up in bed sent him running across the room. John tried not to flinch when the thin arms wrapped around his waist and he patted his son on the back.
Well, he hoped it was his son.
Aeric only held on for a second before remembering he was grown and didn't need childish things like hugs anymore. John felt cold when the boy moved away, but he didn't say anything. Yeah, this was really Aeric.
Jack stirred on the chair and his eyes fluttered opened to see his son sitting up in bed and Aeric standing nearby. He jumped to his feet and started to reach out before thinking better of his move and held back. "John, you're awake," he said in relief. "We were worried. You have a bad concussion."
"Where are we?" John asked as casually as he could. He wasn't sure what was going on and he wasn't going to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing him lose control. His father should be dead by now, and whoever searched his mind to set up this scenario did a lousy job at getting the details right.
"You're on Earth," Jack assured. "Aeric crash landed in a forest in northern Canada and we sent a search and rescue team. You've been out for over a day."
His eyes flew to Aeric, standing near the bottom of the bed and tried to read the boy's face. Something wasn't right. "I need to talk to Aeric alone."
"Sure son. I'll be right outside." Jack looked hurt, but he stepped away and disappeared through the door.
When the soft click of the catch sounded, Aeric stepped closer. "Is this real?"
"I don't know. What happened?"
"The module was hit and you were slammed against a wall and knocked out. I thought we were both dead when a wormhole opened up and sucked me in. I ended up on the other side of this solar system and searched for a planet that would sustain life. We ended up here. I screwed up somehow and this is supposed to be six monens after you left the last time."
"We went back in time," he said, trying to absorb everything Aeric was telling him and formulate a plan.
"Yes. I'm sorry."
John looked up at his son and realized that the boy was barely holding on. He'd done a remarkable job of dealing with everything by himself in a strange world. John could sympathize. "You did the best you could Aeric. I couldn't have done any better, that's for sure. I'm proud of you."
Aeric nodded and the he seemed to relax a little. "What are we going to do?"
"I don't know yet." His head was pounding and all he wanted to do was lay down and sleep for a month straight. He didn't have that luxury, though. He thought he'd already said good-bye to his father for the last time, and now he stood outside his hospital door.
Trying to divert his thoughts, he cast his mind to other matters. "How have they been treating you?"
"Fine, I guess. Jack has been keeping them at bay, I think. I haven't told him who I am, but I think he's guessed."
"Would you like to meet your grandfather?"
"Is it safe to tell him?"
"We don't have much of a choice. Go bring him in here. If I know him, he's hovering just outside the door."
Aeric nodded and disappeared through the door for a few seconds before returning with Jack. "Dad, do you trust me?" he asked, searching his father's face and imprinting the moment in his memory. It had been nearly 24 years since he'd seen his father, and a wave of unaccustomed homesickness threatened to overwhelm him.
"Of course, you know I do son."
"Then get us out of here."
"The doctors said you need..."
"I don't care what the doctors have said, we need out of here. Now. Please."
"All right, let me make the arrangements. The suits aren't going to like this, and they have a million questions for you."
"I can't answer any of them, Dad. You have to keep them at bay."
"I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you."
Jack stepped forward, no longer restraining himself, and put his arms around John, holding him close. "I thought I'd never see you again," he said softly.
"I thought the same thing, Dad" John answered, hugging his father. "I'll tell you what I can when we're out of here."
"All right John," Jack assured, stepping away and patting John's arm. "Give me a few minutes." He turned and smiled at Aeric before leaving the room.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Dad," Aeric said, looking at the door closing behind Jack.
"Not really."
###
Aeric couldn't see enough. The entire trip to Jack's house was spent whip-lashing from side to side, trying to see out every window at once. This was probably going to be his only chance to see Earth and he didn't want to miss a thing.
Then he saw them.
"Jack!" Aeric yelled from the backseat. "Jack! Stop the car!"
Hurriedly, Jack pulled over to the side of the rode, breaking quickly. Aeric was slammed into the front seat, but he recovered nearly instantly and yanked open his passenger door, climbing out.
"Aeric, what's going on?" John and Jack asked, getting out of the car to follow him. It only took a few seconds for John to realize what was happening.
"Aeric..." Jack called, but was interrupted by his son.
"Wait, Dad. Let him go," John said quietly.
The two men stood by their car, watching Aeric run to the skateboard ramps. They ignored the men in dark sunglasses and black suits that pulled over with them, and who were now strategically maneuvering around the park. Instead, they watched as Aeric introduced himself to a few boys and admired their boards.
John smiled, guilt mixed in his gaze with the pride.
"Does he know how to ride that?" Jack asked.
"I'm not sure," John said. "The board I made isn't quite up to the same quality as those kids'."
Jack nodded and they both continued to stare at the boys as they talked and jostled. One handed his skateboard to Aeric, and the young man climbed up the steps to the half pipe.
"He's a good kid," Jack observed. "He was taking good care of you when we found him," Jack smiled. "He wasn't going to let anyone near you."
John smiled, picturing how his son must have acted. "He can get protective sometimes."
"He was going to fight 'til the death until he heard my name."
He was fishing for the words to be said, and John nodded, not wanting to have this conversation here, like this. He didn't want to have this conversation at all, but the time of truth had arrived and there was no getting out of it. "I'm glad you were the one who found him. He needed something familiar to hold onto."
Jack didn't respond, simply watched as the boy fell down and picked himself up the first time he tried to flip like some of the other kids. "How?" he asked, not referring to the antics on the half pipe.
"Navigational inexperience," John said, trying to keep the explanation as simple and brief as possible. "We should never have come here, and we need to leave as soon as I can get the module flight ready. I'm hoping since this isn't my timeline, that we haven't screwed anything really major up by our presence. But I can't know for sure. And the longer we stay here, the worse we make it."
"D...d?" a voice sounded from John's pocket. "Dad ...re yo... ere?"
Aeric fell again, sliding down the ramp in a rumpled heap before handing the board back to its owner. John was pulling his comms from his pocket and missed the sight of his son sprinting back to them.
"Brennik?" he asked, holding the small metal in his hand. There was no answer and he tried again, turning slightly to face the car. "Brennik, where are you?"
"...ad? He...o?"
"I'm here, Bren!" John said louder. "Where are you?"
"Dad!" her voice resonated, momentarily clear. "Keep talking! Foll...ing sig...l."
"NO!" John shouted, drawing the attention of the people nearby and putting the men in black on high alert. He didn't notice. "No Bren! Don't..."
"Ent...ing w...rmh...le now."
Aeric had reached his father's side, pale with worry, but realizing the problem and instantly acting. "Three blind mice," he sang through his heaving breaths. "Three blind mice. See how they run, see how they run!" He was leaning over with his hands on his knees, trying to steady his breathing while singing.
He waved his hand in the air toward Jack, and the older man caught on, if confused. "Three blind mice. Three blind mice," he began softly, then grew louder.
Aeric waved at the nearest agent, urging him to join in. The man in black stepped closer and obediently joined in the round. "Three blind mice, three blind mice,"
John was keeping his gaze locked to the blue sky overhead, and joined in the song his son had started. If Aeric had waited half a second longer, they'd have all been graced with a serenade of "100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall". It had worked the last time.
Silently he willed her to fly through the wormhole safely. If she took a wrong turn, the chances of ever finding them again were remote. He was picturing the next countless years searching for his daughter in bizzarro realities. "Come on girl, get through there," he chanted in his mind as his voice sang the mindless words.
Verse after verse they sang, waiting to hear something, anything, from the comm in John's hand, but the little metal device remained resolutely silent. The agent became horse and another took his place. Passerby's stared blatantly, ignored by the four singing.
"Dad?"
"Brennik?" John asked, shushing the singers. "Brennik, where are you?"
"I'm not sure. Are you on that blue planet down there?"
"Yes, we are. Why the HELL did you fly through that wormhole? Where's your mother?"
"She's back on Moya. And we flew through the wormhole to save you. By the way, you're welcome."
"Who's 'we'? Who else came with you? Why didn't Aeryn come?"
"Me and Laighn," Sethya answered. "We'll explain everything on the way home. We have a lock on your coordinates. We'll be there shortly to pick you up."
"Is everyone ok?"
"Yes, we're all fine, Dad." He could almost hear the tolerance dripping from her voice. "We're not the ones who took the Happy Ride."
"Joy ride."
"Whatever. We brought a tow rope to take the module back. Keep your comms open, we're on our way."
John nodded and turned to his father. "Change of plans. We need to get to the module."
"Do you have to leave right now? Stay for a little while. Let me get to know my grandchildren. I just got you back, and you're saying goodbye again."
"I know dad. I'm sorry. I can't explain it. A very long time ago you said you trusted me. I need you to trust me again. We can't stay."
"All right, son. I'll take you back." He wasn't happy, but he moved toward the car and didn't continue to argue.
"Thank you."
###
The three men stood beside the module on the runway, staring up into the sky. He had an older version of his son on one side, and his adolescent grandson on the other as they waited for his... granddaughter? John hadn't said. He put an arm around each of their shoulders, and Aeric leaned closer slightly.
It was going to kill him to let John go again. Twice he had disappeared into space without explanation, and it looked like they were going to go for a third time. He'd asked once to go with them, but John shook his head and said that if it was twenty four years later it might have been a possibility. It didn't make sense to him, but John had been around the galaxy and knew what he was talking about.
At last the transport pod came into view and slowly descended, landing next to them. A ramp opened and three figures appeared in the doorway. Their silhouettes were hard to decipher, and Jack wasn't exactly sure who, or what, he was looking at.
"Dad?" A woman climbed down the steps and charged John, nearly toppling him in her enthusiasm. "Are you all right?"
John wrapped his arms around her, briefly hugging her before pulling back. "Yeah, we're fine. Let's get the tow rope hitched up."
Finally, Jack was able see the woman for the first time. "Aeryn?"
The girl turned her brown head of hair in his direction, and her eyes grew wide as she smiled. "Jack Crichton?"
He nodded and was instantly engulfed in a giant bear hug. "Grandfather!" she called.
His arms were on automatic, and they wrapped around her thin frame tightly. Her enthusiasm and warmth were a balm to his soul after the distance of his son and wariness of Aeric. She leaned back to look at him for a second before pulling him in tightly again. "Oh, grandfather! I've always wanted to meet you!"
She pulled back again and waved to someone descending the steps of the transport. "Sethya!" she yelled, inadvertently shouting in Jack's ear. He didn't care. This was the family reunion he'd envisioned. "Sethya! Come meet my grandfather!" She turned to John as the young Sebacean headed their direction. "Dad, this is incredible! Why didn't you tell us you were going back to earth?"
She didn't give her father a chance to answer before grabbing Sethya's arm and dragging him closer. "Grandfather, this is Sethya. We are getting married."
Jack held out his hand and Sethya grasped it tightly, shaking it with confidence. "Good to meet you, Sir."
"Call me Jack. We're all family." He tried not to choke on the last words, but his emotions were in turmoil and they came out slightly garbled.
"Jack then."
"I want to see everything," Brennik declared. "I want to see a fishing hole, and the Statue of Liberty, and..."
"We're leaving," John interrupted.
"Leaving?" Brennik cried. "We just got here! This is our home!"
"This isn't our home, Bren. We can't stay," John warned.
"Maybe you won't stay, but I'm an adult now. Staying here has got to be better than running all the time from..."
"Brennik!" John snapped before she could say anymore. Instantly, she grew quiet, shocked that he yelled at her. He took a few deep breaths, looking between his father and his daughter. At last, he continued more softly. "We can't stay. Trust me on this. I would if I could. I'd bring you all here and we'd live our lies in quiet obscurity. But this is not the time or the place for us. We have to leave."
There were so many secrets, so much pain in the eyes of ones so young. They had lived lives he could never comprehend. Brennik frowned, but nodded and looked at Aeric and another person as they hooked cables between the transport pod and the module. "This blows chunks," she mumbled under her breath.
"Yes, it does," John said before walking to his son to help him. Sethya joined him, leaving Brennik and Jack alone.
"We don't have long," she said. "I'm sorry."
"So am I. You are very beautiful. I'm glad I had a chance to meet you."
She blushed and flipped a short lock of hair out of her eyes. "Thank you. I'm glad I got to meet you, too." She hugged him again and it felt like she would never let go. He didn't want her to. It reminded him of the hugs his daughters always graced him with.
There was no doubt she was Aeryn's daughter, though. The likeness was too profound, even with the short choppy hair. He was glad that John and Aeryn had managed to get their act together. Six months ago they were alone and miserable, but somewhere along the line, they'd found their happiness. It was good to know.
The cables were hitched and Brennik let him go, kissing him on the cheek. "I hope to come back some day, for a really long visit."
"I would like that," he said, holding back the tears.
Sethya shook his hand again before leading Brennik back to the transport.
Aeric stepped up, shuffling from foot to foot and looking down. "I..." he tried. "You..." he started again. He raised his head, piercing Jack with those ocean blue eyes he'd inherited from his father. Tears were pooled around the edges, saying everything the boy couldn't voice.
"Me too," Jack said, taking pity on him. "Next time you come, we'll take a day at the skater park."
Aeric nodded, knowing the words to be more of a wish than a promise. Jack couldn't hold back any longer. He wrapped his arms around his grandson as tightly as Brennik had held him. Aeric's arms wrapped around him and they held each other for a moment before the boy pulled away and turned to the transport pod, wiping at a tear quickly. Without a word, he disappeared up the ramp.
John and Jack were alone. "This gets harder and harder every time we do this," Jack said.
John merely nodded. "Yes it does."
"Tell Aeryn hello for me."
"I'll do that," John assured. "She'll be happy to hear you're doing well. I probably shouldn't tell you this, but there's one more on the way."
Jack smiled; his heart full and breaking at the same time. "I'll keep trying to join you out there."
"We'll be waiting."
"I love you."
"I love you too, dad."
His son's arms wrapped around him, holding him tightly and conveying everything the words couldn't. Their time was too short though, and John stepped away and walked up the ramp without turning around.
Jack watched as first, the transport pod lifted until the cabling stretched taught and then lifted the module into the air. Slowly the two ships ascended, becoming smaller and smaller until they were only specks in the blue sky. Finally, they disappeared completely.
He turned and headed toward his car, tears pooling in his eyes, his heart filled with the knowledge his son would be ok. It was time to take a trip to Olivia's house. There was quite a bit he needed to tell her. She was going to be happy to know that her mother's ring went to good use.