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"Pilot, Crichton asked you to follow this comm signal", Chiana said to Pilot wich had appeared in the clamshell.

"Yes Chiana, I monitored the transmission, but Moya cannot move until Ka D'Argo and Officer Sun are back, though we see them coming out of the atmosphere of the commerce planet right now. We'll follow Commander Crichton once they're inside the hangar bay."

And so they went, at the moment Lo'La set down in the hangar bay, Moya emerged from the gas giant, and followed Crichton's signal. The crew weren't the only ones who missed Crichton. Moya had missed him also. They had become a family, something wich she had not experienced before, and she got a little frightened at the prospect of losing it, for Crichton was the bond that hold them all together. She communicated this to Pilot, but he assured her that that feeling was normal, and shared by him.

By that time, D'Argo and Aeryn had come up to command. Aeryn was suitably pissed at Crichton for not coming to Lo'La to see her in person, and she made sure that everybody on command deck knew it. Though it was Chiana who spelled it out for her.

"Aeryn, stop being a pain in the eema! You KNOW why he didn't come to see you! Every time you and he get seperated for a time, you revert back to your Peacekeeper ways, and treat him as bad as a pile of dren! This time, I applaud him for his smartness, and I hope you get your act together before he comes on board! Otherwise, I might just have to make sure he avoids you!"

At that, Aeryn made a spurt at Chiana, ready to pummel her into submission, but D'argo stepped in front of her and she smacked against his chest. It helped to bring her back to a somewhat more reasonable state.

"Aeryn, she's right. Every time, you HAVE been acting like an eema, and I do NOT blame him for acting this way! If you want him to come see you in person, let him SEE that it is going to be different this time!"

Though she did not like to admit it, they were right. She had to take up their advice.

That problem solved, D'Argo put his attention back at the console in front of him.

"Captain D'Argo, Moya senses a large vessel on the edge of her sensor horizon."

"Yes Pilot, I see it. Is it a Command Carrier?"

"It does not correspond to any known vessel in Moya's Database."

"Then it's good pilot, this was to be expected."

At this, Aeryn flared up again.

"What do you mean 'this was to be expected'?! That could be a frelling warship and we're heading right for it!"

"Aeryn, John didn't came alone. It seems that Humans aren't as primitive as we thought, and he as well."

"You're not making any sense."

"We'll let him explain, all right?"

"Very well, but Pilot, if you sense any hostile action from that vessel, starburst immediately!"

"We will, Officer Sun", Pilot replied, and he kept Moya's main sensors trained on the vessel. He also displayed in on the viewscreen on command when they were in sufficient range, since the crew could have any useful input.

"Wow, it looks as if it could destroy a Command Carrier without any trouble!", Chiana said, in awe when the vessel apeared on the viewscreen, with the 2 smaller ones flanking it.

"From what John said about his scout, I am certain it can", D'argo replied, on his turn getting a reaction from Aeryn:

"That's impossible. Aside from a Scarren Dreadnaught or a Nebari Hostship, there is no known event where a single vessel has destroyed an entire command carrier."

D'Argo could have replied about what John did at Dam-Ba-Da, singlehandedly destroying a Scarren Dreadnaught, though he thought better of it, since it was John's clone who did that, and it was probably still to painful for Aeryn to be confronted by. So he was content to not give a reply back.

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Inside John's scout however, things were a bit different.

"Commander, you cannot just take a stray dog home, expecting us to take care of it!"

Captain Hawk didn't like this one bit. What if it came to a battle with a Peacekeeper Command Carrier? They could not ánd battle with the carrier, ánd protect the Leviathan from harm.

"When a sufficiently hazardous situation arrives, Moya will starburst or hide. I can guarantee that she will not be a burden. She has survived without this kind of protection countless times, but that doesn't mean that now I CAN give her that protection, it isn't needed, Sir!"

"Commander Crichton, you are being unduly influenced by your feelings of that vessel and it's crew."

"With all due respect sir, you can't take the chance that Moya will come to harm. What if we need data that she has in her datastores, and pirates have destroyed her? Damn yes I'm being influenced! But it's not for nothing. I want, no I need my friends around me. They will not abandon Moya, nor will I abandon them."

The Captain was now quickly becoming angry. He liked Crichton, he really did. But his respect for people depended on how honourably they were, even moreso then for the Luxans, and blackmailing someone was one of the worst you could try with Hawk.

"Are you BLACKMAILING me, COMMANDER?", he said, stressing Crichton's title.

Crichton tried to level the situation.

"No, no, that's not what I meant, Sir. I'm sorry. It's just that I want her to have our protection, and because of the fact that she will starburst or hide when she could become a burden, I see no need nót to protect her."

"Commander, if you are so sure she will starburst when she could become a burden, what good will our protection do then?"

"You think a little to big at the moment, Sir. The Peacekeepers, Scarrens and Nebari could blast her out of the sky at any moment, that is certainly true. But though they are our only problems, hers are more varied. From pirates to smugglers, from little prowler details to.. indigestion problems. For once I would have my friends, that includes Pilot and Moya herself, have some peace for a while. And being protected by us could do that. We could replenish their food source, pirates won't attack her, we could help whatever problem Moya's having, and the scientists could study and experience biomechanoid technology as a bonus. She really is something, you know."

"Allright Crichton, you have me convinced. For now. Though when I say she has to go, she will go, understood?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Also, you will NEVER EVER pull a stunt like that again! If you EVER even so much as create a stray THOUGHT about blackmailing me, I will have your HEAD ON A FUCKING PLATTER IS THAT UNDERSTOOD, COMMANDER!!"

"Perfectly, Sir."

"Good, now that that's out of the way, let's give your friends a warm welcome, shall we?"

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Pilot appeared on the clamshell in command.

"The vessel is contacting us."

D'argo replied: "Open a comm frequency."

An image appeared on the viewscreen. It was obviously a command center of sorts. The walls were white and black, with a few gray accents and various Sebecean-looking people were at work. The man in the middle stood up and took a few steps forward.

"I am Captain Hawk, commanding the Earth Force Battlecruiser Prometheus. Please position yourself under our vessel, so we can protect you. You are invited to come onboard, I am currently sending flight instructions, and Crichton will be waiting for you in the Main Hangar Bay. You will get a tour of our vessel, and are expected for dinner in two hours over at the Senior Briefing Room. I will attend, so will my Head Officer and Commander Crichton. Till then, Hawk out."

Chiana was the first to respond: "Well, that was abrupt.. But Earth Force Battlecruiser? That thing's from Earth? Drad!", she grinned.

D'Argo grinned back, "If that ship is anything like Crichton's scout, it's going to be a 'drad' tour indeed. Though a ship full of Humans frightens me a bit."

This pushed them both into a full laughter spree, releasing all the stress that was building up.

"On a ship full of Crichtons", the Nebari managed to utter between her fits of laughter, "we'd go crazy within microts."

To that statement, D'argo agreed.

"Pilot", D'Argo started to say, but Pilot interrupted him, anticipating D'Argo's orders:

"We are already moving into position, Captain D'Argo."

Nobody had seen Noranti enter the command deck, though she had probably been there a while. She looked at D'Argo, looking strangely more sane then ever, and said:

"I will stay on board and look after Stark. Go."

D'Argo felt as if he was that little Luxan boy again, allowed to go to the Great Warrior Halls for the first time.

He and Chiana turned and walked to the door of the command deck, when Chiana turned.

"Aeryn? Aren't you coming?"

Aeryn was still staring at the screen.

"Aeryn?"

"No."

"What, why not?"

"He would not want me there."

"Why in hezmana's name would you think such a thing?", D'Argo said.

At this point she exploded.

"You heard yourself! It's an Earth vessel! He is going to stay there! With his fellow Humans! I'm not needed there, he now has them!"

At this point the collapsed against a console, crying.

Having this next big shock, while she wasn't even recovered from the last, proved too much for her.

Both Chiana and D'argo ran over to her, and Chiana grabbed her by her jawline to look her in the eyes.

"Aeryn, he DOES need you. Don't you see that? He probably missed you more then you missed him. Now come."

It took some time for both Chiana and D'Argo to convince her, but eventually they succeeded, the PK mask slipped back and she joined them. All she could think about was John. John, John and John.

They got into a transport pod, reviewed the flight instructions given, and left moya's hangar. Being in space, in a tiny shuttlepod, above Moya and under the much larger Prometheus, they looked like two, though very different, giants deciding with part of the world to trample. Though Moya looked beautiful as always, they were well accustomed to her looks. They were not accustomed however, to the Prometheus.

Up close it looked even more intimidating then it did on the viewscreen. They entered the hangar bay, and landed on the free spot indicated. The view of the hangar bay, seeing so much fighters all in long straight rows, gave Aeryn some flashbacks about her time with the Peacekeepers. Though she has thrown away the Peacekeeper doctrine, her past military life would be a part of her, always.

They landed, and got out of the pod. They could already see 2 people coming for them, of wich one was John. Chiana remarked:

"Well, aren't you going to run up to him, Aeryn?"

"No."

"Well, suit yourself then", Chiana said, and ran up to John. He wore a big smile when she jumped in his arms and gave him a quick kiss on the lips and gave him a large hug full of love and friendschip. Chi was like a little sister to him, and he has missed her very much.

"Yo Pip! Take it easy will ya."

"Will do, Old Man", she grinned, "I missed you."

"So did I Chi, so did I."

When he arrived a few meters in front of Aeryn, he took a few tentative steps, and asked hesistantly:

"Aeryn?"

He saw a tear on her jaw, and wasted no more time running up to her.

"I missed you John."

He kissed her and held her in a long lovingly embrace.

"I missed you too, babe. I love you."

After a few minutes, John stood back, and proper introductions were made.

"Let me be the first to officialy welcome you to the Prometheus. Let's begin our tour, shall we?", Cain said, and he lead them on a tour through the Prommie's innards. Aeryn was suitably impressed, the men spoke of great discipline and the vessel spoke of powerful technology, but without the cruel and cold atmosphere always present on a PK Carrier. So was D'Argo, but Chiana wasn't really that much interested. Though now that they found John, it really didn't matter.

All the while, questions were raised and answers were given.

"But how is this possible John?", D'Argo said, "you indicated that your people had just barely escaped your own atmosphere?"

"Well, you know the first wormhole that brought me here? I was slingshotted into the future. Our planet has been out in space for quite a while now."

"It must be hard, suddenly finding yourself thousands of cycles in the future."

D'Argo patted him on the back.

"Yeah it is, there's no-one left back on Earth for me. But what are you talking about, thousands of cycles? I've been shot 300 cycles into the future D'argo, not thousands", he said with a smile.

"But that's ridiculous!", Aeryn broke in, "You could not have possibly gone from that bucket of dren you call a 'module', to THIS, in just 300 cycles!"

Commander Cain, who lead the tour replied:

"But we have, Officer Sun. What you see here is 300 years of development from John's perspective. Though I must admit, we didn't do it entirely on our own, we began with reverse-engineering a Goa'uld Death Glider, and we've reverse-enigneered some other things here and there, mostly from knowledge depositories left by the Ancients. But still, we did most of the stuff on our own."

This stunned them, if they had become this advanced in just 300 cycles, imagine what Humans would be like in another 300 cycles! Suddenly the intergalactic playfield became a whole lot smaller.

The tour ended, and Commander Cain led them into the Senior Briefing Room. It was somewhat smaller then the Galley on Moya, though, but still large enough to hold twice the people that would be having dinner now. Cain invited them to sit, and Captain Hawk entered.

"It has been said before, but I will say it again anyway: Welcome to the Prometheus, gentlemen. The pride of the 'fleet", he boasted proudly. Introductions were made, and they sat down, the whole table decked and full of food.

"I'm not sure wich foods are safe for you and wich are not, due to your non-Human physiology, but I have the Doctor on stand-by, if anything should go wrong. Take whatever your wish, but please, do emtpy your plate once you've made your choices. Though we have an abundance of food, we're not used to throwing away large amounts of excess food."

They were eating, and enjoying themselves and then finally the current state of galactic affairs came up in the conversation.

"But I do like to know, why are you here?" D'argo asked, blunt as always.

Captain Hawk nodded, "a fair question. I wondered when it was going to be asked. To keep it simple, we are here to assess the Peacekeeper, Scarren and Nebari threat to both our neighbourhood and this neighbourhood."

"What will you do if either a Scarren Dreadnaught or a Peacekeeper Command Carrier sees you on their scanners? There is a carrier just a few systems away from here."

"Yes, we know. I think now is a good time as any to verify our information. We'll attract the carrier's attention and when it rises to the bait, we'll try to verify their intentions, and if neccasery broker a non-agression pact with them."

"That is not possible", Aeryn said.

"That might be so, but we still have to try. If they will have none of it, and they fire on us, we will fire back, I assure you. Our Asgard allies have assured us that the Peacekeepers are a threat that cannot be ignored, and if it cannot be solved in any peaceful means, then we will return to Earth, bring back a few brothers and sisters and some of our friends. Better to solve the problem here, then in our own backyard. We might even get a few new allies. And this neighbourhood will become a lot more friendly with the big bullies out of the picture."

"You are planning to go to war with the Peacekeepers?", D'Argo looked shocked.

"As I already said, if all peaceful means are exploited, and there is no remedy to the situation that way, then we will resort to forcefully remove the Peacekeeper's influence, yes. We don't know what to do with the Scarrans yet, though. At this point, it seems inevitable that we'll have to go to war with them. If John's information is correct, that is, and no peace or non-agression-pact can be arranged. And as far as the Nebari are concerned, Chiana, we hope we could examine you, and the virus you carry, so our Doctors may try to find an antidote. The Asgard even have left a delegation of Medical Technicians onboard our vessel for this express purpose."

"How will you know that when it comes to an all-out war, either the Peacekeepers or the Scarrens or even the Nebari won't destroy you? The Nebari Hostship is the most advanced and powerful vessel known."

"A valid point, but our Asgard allies assured us that the Peacekeepers are no match for us. In a ship to ship confrontation, we wouldn't be able to take on more then four or five carriers, that's true. So unless it comes to a confrontation with a larger force then that, we would have no problem on our hands. Besides, we have two escorts, so the odds would be even more in our favour. Same goes for two Scarren Dreadnaughts. But with our Displacement Drive, we wouldn't have to. And both the Peacekeepers and the Scarrens have lost alot of people and ships in the skirmishes, so if they were not to combine forces, then they would not be able to stand up against our entire fleet. The Nebari Hostship is a powerful vessel indeed, the Asgard have told us that much, but they also told us that there are just 5 Hostships in the entire Nebari fleet. They are not a problem. The virus, however, is. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"That's alot of 'if's", John said.

"That is true, but we'll just have to keep our hopes up, don't we?"

"Why did you come here, instead of fortifying your borders and making your fleet as strong as possible? If you keep up this level of advancement, just 50 or 100 cycles or so in isolation would make you that much stronger then the Peacekeepers", Aeryn asked, "Also, who are these Asgard you speak of, and how come they have so much knowledge about this area of space, while we've never heard of them?"

Captain Hawk was satisfied playing the ball to Commander Cain.

"The Asgard assured us that our explorers in this area, one is already coming to meet us by the way, would have made contact with the Peacekeepers within 2 years."

"Cycles", John piped in. Cain continued.

"Right, 2 cycles. So it wouldn't have made any difference, except for the fact that the 2 explorers are dated by our standards and would not survive a full out confrontation with more then one PK command carrier, even if they were bundled together. Thus sending us out here, at this time, was deemed the best option. As for your second question, the Asgard control their entire galaxy, and are thousands of years in front of us technology-wise. For example: We would need almost 50 vessels like the Prometheus to have an almost equal chance against one of their battleships. The sensor arrays in their galaxy reach as far as not only their entire galaxy, but ours and a few neighbouring ones as well. And that explains their information about this part of our galaxy."

"Well, if they're so advanced, why not send a few of their ships out here?"

"They are just getting out of their own war with the Replicators, and have no ships to spare. And they have a few other weaknesses wich I'm not willing to discuss. Besides, the situation here concerns us more then them, it wouldn't feel right having them do our dirty work, so to speak."

Then Hawk's communit beeped. He tapped it, and his Head Tactical Officer was heard.

"Captain, there's a large vessel appearing on the edge of our sensor horizon. The computer identifies it as a Peacekeeper Command Carrier."

"Well gentlemen, the show is about to begin. Would you care to join me on the brige? I'm sure we've got a few seats to spare at the sides."

On the way, D'argo commed Pilot.

"Pilot!"

"Yes, Ka D'argo?"

"You and Moya must re-enter the second gas giant. There's a Command Carrier coming."

"Moya hasn't seen it yet. Are you sure? And what of-"

"Yes Pilot, I'm sure. We will stay here. When it's safe for you and Moya to come out, we will return."

"Ofcourse, Ka D'Argo."

With that, Moya vacated her spot under the Prometheus' belly and entered the gas giant.

Once on the Bridge, the Captain immediately began issuing out orders to his crew.

"Ops, can you make it look like a comm channel is coming from one of the escorts, while it's actually coming from us?"

"Yes, Captain, but why would you want tha-"

Captain Hawk interrupted him.

"Let's not show our hand yet, shall we? Raise the cloaking screen, and prepare to decloak, raise defense shields and arm weapons on my command. Tell one of our escorts to do the same, but keep the other one visible. Make it look like it's only us, on that escort, allright? If the Peacekeepers are really what everything we know about them indicates, then they will see it as an inferior vessel, and try to board it. That's where we come in. And, if our information is incorrect, on the other hand, they will be off without ever having seen us. Both ways, we'll keep our cards to our chest. Anyway, inform the Castor and the Pollux of our plan", the Captain said.

"This is what we've come for people. Let's do it!"

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Author's Notes: I've already written this in the last week. More is coming, though I won't have an update every day, since I simply do not have that much time nor inspiration. I hope my writing gets well recieved, but as I've stated in the disclaimer part, I love comments, especially constructive ones. This is, after all, my first attempt at writing fan fiction, in a non-native tongue even, so it's bound to be mistake galore. Praises are also welcome. ;) Thanks.

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